When President Bush signed Project Bioshield into law last week, few companies seemed to have more to celebrate than Human Genome Sciences Inc., a Rockville biotechnology firm that has spent more than $10 million to develop a drug to prevent and treat anthrax infections. Anthrax infections are rare, so the drug has little appeal to the average consumer. But Project Bioshield, which sets aside $5.6 billion for the government to stockpile a medical arsenal against biological weapons, gives Human Genome Sciences exactly what it needs: a buyer.
