CROSSING THE BARRIER

摘要

Nine blocks from the beach in Santa Monica, California, a small biotechnology company occupies one bay of a single-storey commercial block, about the width of a three-car garage. Founded by William Pardridge, an endocrinologist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), ArmaGen Technologies employs just five people: call it garage-band biotech. From a small refrigerator in the cramped space, Pardridge pulls out a black plastic tray. Within are four dozen small bottles labelled 'AGT-190', a drug that Pardridge hopes will revolutionize treatment for several debilitating brain diseases.