The company could then exclusively market the drug for seven years.

The company has said it was prepared to begin marketing the drug almost immediately.

That could be cut in half if competing sources were allowed to market the drug, he said.

It might even market drugs for enhancing life beyond healthy.

He said Merck hoped to market the drug in 1994.

Corporations will go a long way to avoid that sort of scene, and soon the company changed its mind about marketing the drug.

Vertex is marketing the drug at $294,000 a year per patient.

It also suspended approval of the company's applications to market new drugs.

But government regulators have never asked Pfizer to change how it markets the drug.

Representatives of organizations like the Population Council hope a small company will decide to try to market the drug.