After two pipe bombs damaged their buildings in 2003, and after employees had been repeatedly harassed at their homes by animal rights activists wielding bullhorns and sirens, Chiron Corp. decided enough was enough.

Stock ownership allowed but ban on consulting for biotech and drug companies remains

Meanwhile, House explores NIH restructuring that would combine 27 institutes into two groups

Jamie Heywood, chief executive of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Therapy Development Foundation (ALSTDF), founded the nonprofit biotech company in 1999 after his brother was diagnosed with ALS.

Celera Genomics made hundreds of millions of dollars by selling access to its proprietary genome sequence information.

The University of Rochester thought it had struck pay dirt on April 11, 2000, when it was awarded a broad patent covering inhibitors of the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) based on the work of researchers Donald Young, Michael K. O'Banion, and Virginia D. Winn.1 That same day the university filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giants G.D. Searle & Co. (subsequently Pharmacia and Pfizer), and later Monsanto, alleging that the blockbuster drugs Celebrex and Bextra infringed on its pioneering

In the middle of dairy country, nestled by four glacial lakes, Madison, Wisconsin is quietly emerging as a biotechnology and life science powerhouse.

A group that represents senior scientists and others at the National Institutes of Health is proposing less restrictive regulations concerning the ownership of stock in drug and biotech companies, and the ability to consult with universities and academic institutions.

Intramural researchers suggest fewer restrictions on consulting and stock ownership

Bruce Weintraub is a cofounder and chief executive of Trophogen, a biotech startup in Rockville, Md., that develops protein therapeutics.

In 2004, media reports and US congressional investigations revealed that dozens of intramural scientists and officials at the National Institutes of Heath had received substantial amounts of cash and stock options by consulting with drug and biotech companies, many of which had dealings with the agency.

Scientists seek to challenge regulations restricting stock ownership, academic consulting