Some California companies have already prepared, to varying degrees, to meet that threat. "Because you have earthquakes here, you have to have backup power systems," notes Sue Markland Day, president of the Bay Area Bioscience Center in San Francisco. Amgen, for instance, has been preparing for potential power outages since the 1994 Northridge earthquake, according to spokesman David Kaye. The company's emergency generators now cover 70 to 80 percent of its power requirements.
"We can't afford to be without power," says Kaye. "We're the sole source for Epogen and Neupogen in the U.S. So if the power suddenly went out and we lost it for a couple of days, that would cause a major problem for our customers and patients." (Epogen is used to treat anemia, while Neupogen combats various cancer complications.) John Sung, senior director of facilities at Gilead Sciences, worries about the vulnerability of the company's San Dimas ...
