Fire Trap

11 - A date with Jean

"What was Simon working on?" I asked, really interested now in the answer.

Lester probed me about my liposome knowledge then launched into Genetrix liposome research to date. Topical products like sun-screens and insect repellents are already on the market, I was surprised to learn. The little liposome bubbles, which you'd need an electron microscope to see, are time-release capsules. If you put mouthwash in the liposome, you get a new product that isn't washed away in a few minutes by saliva, by keeps your breath sweet for hours. Mouthwash was Genetrix's first product.

The big payoff, though, will be the specially-targeted delivery and timed-release of powerful drugs, antigens or vaccines. Lester got visibly excited as he reviewed the liposome potential. Today, you flood the body with chemotherapy drugs and they have nasty side effects, but with targeted-delivery and timed-release you get the same therapeutic effect with far smaller doses and far fewer side effects.

"If it's that great, why are you wasting your time with mouthwash when you could be fighting cancer?"

"Clinical trials," he said, bobbing his big head up and down significantly. "No one knows the right-sized doses or if they will work on different types of people in the same way. The FDA requires lengthy animal and human tests. The number and length of those tests are in direct proportion to the potency of the drug. We've done animal tests on our flu vaccine, and we're in the middle of a heavy funding round to carry us through human trials."

I was getting restless. "So you have mouthwash on the market, and a flu vaccine going into human clinical trials. You still haven't mentioned what Simon or you were working on at the time of the fire."

"Sorry," he apologized, "Simon was working on delivering AZT via liposomes. While AZT can attack the AIDS virus, AZT can't penetrate the microphages that carry the virus, but liposomes can. At least Simon thought they could. To date, He hadn't been successful in demonstrating it and it depressed him."

"Microphages?"

"Think of them as scavengers of the immune system. If foreign bugs enter your body, microphages are sent out to gobble them up. They're the cleanup crew."

You could use a few microphages around here, I thought, gazing about me. "How did Simon get along with Mark?" I said out loud, trying to terminate the science lecture.

"He didn't."

What does that mean?"

"Simon was completely focused on research," Lester explained. "He had no time for bureaucracy. When he agreed to start up Genetrix with Neal, he made Neal promise to handle all those issues. He would report scientific research to the board, but that was it. When Mark became CEO, he tried to change that. Didn't work. It had the opposite effect. Simon refused to report to anyone but Neal, per the original understanding. Mark was furious and Neal didn't like being in the middle either, but Simon could be an obstinate son-of-a-bitch when he felt like it.

I spent another half hour talking to Lester, but we kept sliding down into science. The only additional conclusion I came to was that nobody liked Simon very much as a person, except Lester, and his liking was largely scientific respect.

#

I had returned to my hotel and was finishing a filet o'sole lunch when Jean arrived. The well-tipped desk clerk steered her to my table. True to her word, she'd dressed casually in a simple white blouse, blue jeans and tennis shoes. A small fabric purse swung from her shoulder and she carried a tan sweater over her arm. Her ponytail was back, but I guess the glasses were only for the office.

"Sorry," I said, pointing at my lunch remains in embarrassment.

She waved my concern away with a gesture and a smile. "The invitation was for dinner, not lunch."