Spring Break
A life on the line, an experimental drug to try
Experimental new drug made by OSU professor offers dying child last chance for survival
Lisa Riordan
Issue date: 6/7/07 Section: News
The child received his first dose of ST-246 by 9 a.m. Sunday morning, showing marked improvement almost immediately.
Health officials remained in constant contact with Hruby, closely monitoring the child for changes and scrutinizing lab results.
"We were having daily phone calls with as many as 50 people on the phone," Hruby said.
With 25 years experience in pox viruses, Hruby is an expert in his field. He founded Siga Technologies in 1996, a flourishing biotechnology company with locations in both New York and Corvallis.
The company designs and develops products for the prevention and treatment of a myriad of infectious diseases, including broad spectrum antibiotics designed to quash antibiotic resistant infections.
"We're doing a lot of exciting things right now, like our work in hemorrhagic fever viruses [such as ebola, lassa fever]," Lehew said. "And of course, smallpox."
Officially eradicated in 1977, the last known samples of smallpox are purported to be located at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta and a research facility in Russia.
This assertion is contested by Hruby, who cites the looming threat of bioterrorism as the chief motivator in the development of ST-246.
"During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was developing smallpox to use as a weapon. After the break up of the SU, thousands of scientists were suddenly out of work and nobody knows where they all went... or what happened to all the missing samples."
Hruby is concerned that samples could fall into the wrong hands.
"If smallpox were to be released on a subway in New York, the effects would be devastating," Hruby said. "Except for the military, people aren't getting vaccinated anymore ... we're very vulnerable."
Siga created the drug with plans to market it to the government. The company hopes the government will stockpile ST-246 for use in emergency situations. According to those close to him, Hruby remains modest and unassuming, despite his recent success.
"He is still the same guy I go fishing with," said Peter Bottomley, an OSU microbiology professor who has been a colleague and a friend to Hruby for more then 20 years. "He hasn't let any of it go to his head."
Hruby said he has no plans to leave OSU, and will remain committed to the university for years to come.
Health officials remained in constant contact with Hruby, closely monitoring the child for changes and scrutinizing lab results.
"We were having daily phone calls with as many as 50 people on the phone," Hruby said.
With 25 years experience in pox viruses, Hruby is an expert in his field. He founded Siga Technologies in 1996, a flourishing biotechnology company with locations in both New York and Corvallis.
The company designs and develops products for the prevention and treatment of a myriad of infectious diseases, including broad spectrum antibiotics designed to quash antibiotic resistant infections.
"We're doing a lot of exciting things right now, like our work in hemorrhagic fever viruses [such as ebola, lassa fever]," Lehew said. "And of course, smallpox."
Officially eradicated in 1977, the last known samples of smallpox are purported to be located at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta and a research facility in Russia.
This assertion is contested by Hruby, who cites the looming threat of bioterrorism as the chief motivator in the development of ST-246.
"During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was developing smallpox to use as a weapon. After the break up of the SU, thousands of scientists were suddenly out of work and nobody knows where they all went... or what happened to all the missing samples."
Hruby is concerned that samples could fall into the wrong hands.
"If smallpox were to be released on a subway in New York, the effects would be devastating," Hruby said. "Except for the military, people aren't getting vaccinated anymore ... we're very vulnerable."
Siga created the drug with plans to market it to the government. The company hopes the government will stockpile ST-246 for use in emergency situations. According to those close to him, Hruby remains modest and unassuming, despite his recent success.
"He is still the same guy I go fishing with," said Peter Bottomley, an OSU microbiology professor who has been a colleague and a friend to Hruby for more then 20 years. "He hasn't let any of it go to his head."
Hruby said he has no plans to leave OSU, and will remain committed to the university for years to come.
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