"I was not a party to the company's posting of this published paper on their Web site and was in fact unaware of this.... Given that Dr. Rothman is an author on the paper, I had no right to demand that the company not display the work on its Web site after it was published."
Rothman declined through an aide to be interviewed.
Germain said that while the research was being done, "I informed my immediate supervisor at NIH of the situation." He noted that his lab's work with heat-shock proteins predated the collaboration.
* Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Connecticut company developing antibody-based drugs for cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders and cancer.
Alexion collaborated with Germain's lab from 1993 to 1997 under a CRADA.
In 1994, Alexion announced the NIH had signed an agreement giving the company "worldwide exclusive rights to U.S. and foreign patent filings" for discoveries that might result from the collaboration. When the company reported financial results in 1996, it said the NIH collaboration and funding had helped to reduce losses.
Germain became a paid consultant to Alexion in 1998, about a year after his lab finished collaborating with the company. Over the next five years, he accepted $51,000 in fees, plus vested stock options worth up to $100,000.
Germain joined Alexion's scientific advisory board, he said, at the behest of an executive who used to work at the NIH with him.
"He was interested in my acting as a consultant for a long time, both preceding and during the period of the CRADA," Germain said. "I agreed to take the position only after the CRADA ended."
Alexion's head of research, Stephen P. Squinto, said the company relied on Germain and the other scientific board members to review its programs "and potentially introduce us to some newer things, newer technologies or drug targets."
* Cell Genesys Inc., a developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines and gene therapies for AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses.
The company has had a long affiliation with Germain and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, which houses his lab.
In financial reports, the company has cited its reliance on a "collaborative relationship" with the institute and its affiliation with Germain, who sits on its scientific advisory board.
