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May 31, 2004, 04:13 PM
Doctors worry as some drug firms quit field
By Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff *|* May 31, 2004
Whenever employees of Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. go on vacation, they bring back a souvenir: a little tube of dirt.
It is a critical step in Cubist's efforts to develop an antibiotic to combat disease. Once the employees bring soil from America's golf courses and beaches back to Cubist laboratories in Lexington, scientists search the samples for microscopic agents that can kill bacteria.
Cubist has built up a ''library" of 20,000 natural spores that it is testing for the potential to cure disease. In an area of research that is languishing because the market for antibiotics is perceived to be small, the company is one of the few biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms trying to discover new antibiotics.
''We know there is an unmet medical need," said Francis P. Tally, Cubist's senior vice president and chief scientific officer. Founded in 1992, Cubist introduced its first commercial product last year, Cubicin, an antibiotic designed to treat hospital infections.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/biotechnology/articles/2004/05/31/few_joining_hunt_for_antibiotics/
By Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff *|* May 31, 2004
Whenever employees of Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. go on vacation, they bring back a souvenir: a little tube of dirt.
It is a critical step in Cubist's efforts to develop an antibiotic to combat disease. Once the employees bring soil from America's golf courses and beaches back to Cubist laboratories in Lexington, scientists search the samples for microscopic agents that can kill bacteria.
Cubist has built up a ''library" of 20,000 natural spores that it is testing for the potential to cure disease. In an area of research that is languishing because the market for antibiotics is perceived to be small, the company is one of the few biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms trying to discover new antibiotics.
''We know there is an unmet medical need," said Francis P. Tally, Cubist's senior vice president and chief scientific officer. Founded in 1992, Cubist introduced its first commercial product last year, Cubicin, an antibiotic designed to treat hospital infections.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/biotechnology/articles/2004/05/31/few_joining_hunt_for_antibiotics/
