Viral Combat

Not only did the discovery represent profitability, Van den Broek says, it also gave the biotechnology firm a revenue source independent of investment capital, which made the company less dependent on the whims of Wall Street investors. And the Street seemed to like that. Chiron stock rose from $4.13 to $9 per share between the announcement of its hepatitis C discovery and the initial marketing of the HCV test in 1990.

Since then, the company has racked up many other discoveries, including the first drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and kidney cancer. Chiron stock rose to $19.25 per share during the past decade as the company made new discoveries, sold more products, and acquired other companies. In 1995, Swiss-based Ciba Geigy paid $2.1 billion for 47 percent of Chiron. Novartis AG, another Swiss pharmaceutical giant, bought Ciba Geigy, including its interest in Chiron, in December 1996.

Now Chiron is involved in another, even more significant race involving HCV technology. Last month, the company began clinical trials on a vaccine for HCV, something no other company apparently has managed. The first results are expected next year. With 100 million people afflicted, a vaccine could have a huge effect on worldwide public health. A vaccine would also bring enormous profits to whomever owned the rights to license it.

"HCV has proven to be a very tough nut to crack," says Van den Broek. "But everybody knows that there is a hepatitis B vaccine that made about $1 billion in sales. HCV, being a larger health concern, could easily surpass that."

The HCV virus has eluded scientists for years. It's taunted them, remaining just outside of their grasp. It's teased them with possibility and frustrated all but the most tenacious into giving up.

Even 10 years after a test to identify it was created, no one knows how to destroy the virus -- or, it seems, the litigation surrounding it. And while Chiron is clearly fixated on the future of HCV research, the past continues to nip at its heels like a mad dog that won't go away. A dog named Daniel Bradley, who may be coming soon to a courtroom near you.