Anthrax serum boosts Cangene profits

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SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Canadian drugmaker Cangene Corp. says its banner fiscal year is due to the anthrax serum it is developing for the U.S. government.

The company, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, expects revenues for the third quarter of this year to be up 30 percent over the same period a year ago, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.

Under a contract signed after anthrax attacks killed five people in 2001, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is paying Cangene more than $14,000 per dose for its anthrax immune globulin, which remains years away from being licensed, the Tribune reported.

To develop the serum, Cangene uses plasma donated by members of the U.S. military, many from bases in Utah, who have been vaccinated for anthrax and carry key antibodies.

Under its U.S. contract, Cangene stands to collect more than $144 million through the end of 2009, even if U.S. health officials decide to reject the serum once it's fully developed, the Tribune reported.