capabilities that can be used for pro ducing raw materials. The Firestone divestiture is part of a shakeout in the ΡVC industry. The resin is suffering through an ex tremely bad year brought on by a depressed construction industry that takes much of PVC output. PVC resin production through July was down 11% to 3.1 billion lb from a year ago, according to figures from the Society of the Plastics Industry. Sales and captive use also are off for the year so far. Through July, sales had decreased 16.2% from the first seven months of 1979 to 3.04 billion lb. This depressed market is causing some producers to think twice about
their involvement in PVC production. Air Products has said that it is con sidering exploratory inquiries re garding the possible sale of its PVC business. And Diamond Shamrock has indicated that its PVC business may be for sale if the price is right. Firestone's decision to sell its PVC business was spurred not only by the declining PVC market but by the company's need for cash. The com pany suffered a loss of $3 million in its second fiscal quarter ending April 30. Firestone and Occidental say that their discussions for the sale began in April. They are proceeding with the necessary government filings and hope to complete the transaction be fore the end of 1980. D
Biotechnology seminar woos corporate investors Biotechnology in general and re combinant DNA stratagems in par ticular are continuing to be accepted and to grow in respectability on the corporate scene. At least that's the impression that was conveyed at the second annual "Biotechnology investment seminar," sponsored by E. F. Hutton and held in New York City last week. The meeting portrayed the emerging technology as a virtually accom plished fact and, in so doing, epito mized the steady and sometimes dramatic progress that's been made since Hutton's first such seminar a year ago. Last year's meeting emphasized the role of venture capital-based fledgling companies in getting the new technology into action. Now the emphasis clearly is shifting to include some of the establishment corporate giants, including Du Pont and Eli Lilly, which have in-house programs, as well as companies such as National Distillers and Koppers whose move into biotechnology has been through sizable equity investments in the specialized biotechnology firms. Perhaps the clearest example of how seriously the big companies take this technology is Lilly's program to bring recombinant DNA-made insu lin into full-scale production by 1982, announced this summer but repeated enthusiastically for the sake of the Wall Street money managers at tending the Hutton seminar. Given Lilly's large share of the worldwide insulin market, the company's firm commitment to a new production technology can be taken as an un equivocal signal to investors that that technology indeed must be reckoned with. Another important factor came across during the seminar during Zsolt Harsanyi's presentation out8
C&ENSept. 22, 1980
Harsanyi: no major roadblocks
lining the current stance of several federal agencies toward biotechnol ogy. Harsanyi, a geneticist who has been putting together the Office of Technology Assessment's report on the subject, foresees "no major road blocks" coming from such agencies as the Food & Drug Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, the Center for Dis ease Control, and the Department of Agriculture. He admits the biggest uncertainty remains what Congress might do, especially after the election reshuffling later this fall. However, judging from Harsanyi's remarks about the forthcoming OTA report, Congress should feel little urgency anymore about regulating industry over the safety issues. "To date, there have been no demonstra ble hazards from recombinant DNA research," he says. As that message is repeated, there may be little incentive left for Congress to get into the act with the technology already moving so firmly into place. D
Chelating agent treats plutonium poisoning Scientists at the University of Cali fornia's Lawrence Berkeley Labora tory have developed a new class of chelating agents, one of which selec tively removes plutonium from living tissue and also may prove useful in removing the element from low-level nuclear waste. Another has shown potential as a radiopharmaceutical that clearly delineates tumors. Linear catechoylamide carboxylate, or LICAM-C, has removed 70% of the plutonium injected into labora tory mice, according to Berkeley chemist Kenneth N. Raymond and LBL scientists Fredrick J. Weitl and Patricia W. Durbin. They believe that with repeated doses they can remove even more, and with little or no toxic side effects. Recent studies show that the ligand continues to be effective for at least 24 hours after the injection. The LBL work is part of an ongoing Department of Energy program to improve treatments for plutonium poisoning, Weitl explains. Perhaps half a dozen such cases occur in the U.S. weapons program every year. In the body, he says, the element is predominantly in the form of pluto nium (IV), which is chemically very similar to iron(III). Thus the body absorbs it into iron storage sites such as the spleen, liver, and bone marrow, where its alpha emissions make it a potent carcinogen. Although other chemicals can re move plutonium from tissues, the LBL researchers say, they also tend to remove such essential minerals as calcium, iron, and zinc. LICAM-C is much more selective. Moreover, it is nontoxic, and the molecule is small enough to be excreted through the kidneys. The LBL scientists now are applying for funding to research the effectiveness of similar compounds in extracting plutonium fro'm low-level liquid wastes. One approach is to polymerize the LICAM-C molecules, producing a solid, insoluble resin that could be used on a chromatographiclike support. A sulfonated form of the LICAM molecule, LICAM-S, recently has been studied as a radiopharmaceuti cal at Washington University in St. Louis, Weitl says. Labeled with ra dioactive gallium or indium and in jected into an experimental animal with cancer, the compound is taken up preferentially by fast-growing tumor cells. Since unbound LICAM-S is washed out of the body quickly, the tumor shows up on radiograms with especially high contrast. D
