Dave Christensen got the bad news five years ago: The lump in his neck was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the blood and lymphatic system.

Rituxan, a cancer drug by Idec Pharmaceuticals

Tools for spinal surgery, developed by NuVasive

A portable oxygen generator by Sequal

Research tools by Invitrogen

Devices to treat sleep apnea, by Resmed

Viracept, to treat HIV, developed by Agouron

Christensen's oncologist suggested that he join the clinical trial of a new cancer drug called Rituxan, which was developed in San Diego by Idec Pharmaceuticals.

“Cancer is a sly little guy in there, hiding behind everything it can, so that it can get to you,” said Christensen, 44, a construction supervisor. “Rituxan highlights the bad (cancer) cells so they can't hide and the body's immune system can attack it. At least that's how I look at it.”

In March, Christensen celebrated five years in remission.

“I think Rituxan saved my life, plain and simple,” he said.

Before his diagnosis, Christensen was like many San Diegans, only slightly aware of the region's biotechnology industry. It is an industry that employs more than 40,000 people in more than 400 companies and research laboratories in San Diego County.

The industry's global development and successes will be celebrated this week when about 20,000 executives from around the world gather in San Diego for the BIO International Convention, the annual conference for the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

In the three decades since the founding of the first biotechnology company, South San Francisco's Genentech, San Diego County has emerged as one of three primary biotech hubs in the nation, along with Boston and the Bay Area.

Scientific discoveries out of respected research institutions, such as the University of California San Diego, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Scripps Research Institute on Torrey Pines Mesa, , have been spun into hundreds of biotechnology companies.

The first San Diego company, Hybritech, developed a simple but effective prostate-specific antigen test to detect prostate cancer in 1985. Since then, local companies have created a string of products that have extended or improved people's lives and sometimes earned a lucrative return for investors.

Products created in San Diego have helped fight and diagnose disease, speed surgeries, aid other research and even improve pig feed so animal waste is less destructive to the environment.

Leading the list of successful San Diego-grown products are treatments for cancer – Rituxan and Zevalin by Idec, Sutent by Pfizer – and diabetes – Byetta and Symlin by Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Zegerid made by Santarus treats acid reflux, and Abreva made by Avanir treats cold sores.

Medical device company Pyxis developed a system to help hospitals control and track drugs. ResMed taught the world about sleep apnea when it created breathing masks to treat the disorder. Biosite created tests that allow emergency-room doctors to quickly determine whether someone with chest pain and breathing difficulty is having a heart attack.

A company called Diversa developed enzymes, including those used in livestock feed. The company, now known as Verenium, is a pioneer in the emerging field of biofuels.

Other local biotech companies have developed products that help with research, such as Illumina's genetic analysis systems, which allow scientists to search for common factors in diseases such as Alzheimer's. Invitrogen and Stratagene have developed tool kits, chemicals and cells that are sold to other scientists working to develop new drugs.

THE BIO INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION When: From Tuesday through Friday Where: San Diego Convention Center What: More than 22,000 people from around the globe are expected to attend the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, representing companies that make drugs, diagnostics, medical devices, research tools and products to drive development of alternative fuels New regime: Biotech acquisitions can take on a hostile tone. STORY Industry priorities: A talk with BIO's James Greenwood. STORY Coming Tuesday: BIO 2008, a special section in the Union-Tribune about local biotech companies and industry issues.

“When I'm asked about the achievement of San Diego biotech, I tell people that anyone who has cancer is probably taking a drug that was researched and developed in San Diego,” said Joseph Panetta, who heads Biocom, the biotechnology trade group for Southern California.

“Anyone who has diabetes probably should be on a drug that is made here in San Diego. And you'd be hard-pressed to find a lab in the world that isn't using one of 35,000 products that Invitrogen sells.”

Yet developing a blockbuster cancer drug like Rituxan is risky and expensive, costing as much as $1 billion, according to an industry-funded study. Often, all that money and more than a decade of research can end in disappointment.

Such was the case with Favrille, a San Diego company that learned this month that its therapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma had failed to show any benefit in a late-stage trial. The company has laid off 132 of its 144 employees.

There is no reward without risk, said John McCamant, editor of the Medical Technology Stock Letter in Berkeley.

“It's a hell of a tough business, but when you look at the patient angle, it can be phenomenal,” McCamant said.

McCamant singled out San Diego companies or products that have had a global impact:

Viracept, for the treatment of HIV. It was developed in the 1990s by Agouron, a tiny company that later was acquired by Pfizer.

SAN DIEGO BIOTECH Here are some of the biotech products developed in San Diego County and the companies responsible: DRUGS Rituxan for cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, Idec Sutent for cancer, Pfizer Zevalin for cancer, Idec Pharmaceuticals Viracept for HIV, Agouron Byetta and Symlin for diabetes, Amylin Pharmaceuticals Zegerid for acid reflux, Santarus Abreva for cold sores, Avanir Oraverse to eliminate numbness from local anesthesia, Novalar DIAGNOSTICS PSA test for prostate cancer, Hybritech BNP diagnostics, Biosite MRSA diagnostic, GeneOhm Blood screening, Gen-Probe DEVICES Irregular heartbeat monitor, CardioNet Blood glucose monitor, DexCom Orthopedic products, DJO Inc. Masks to treat sleep apnea, Resmed Portable oxygen generator, Sequal Ablation system for treatment of irregular heartbeat, CryoCor Hemi (big) toe implant, Kinetikos Medical Tools for spine surgery, Alphatec Holdings Tools for spine surgery, NuVasive Cardiac impedance monitor, CardioDynamics Nuclear imaging systems, Digirad Eyeglasses, Ophthonix TOOLS AND ANALYTICS Research tools, Invitrogen Research tools, Stratagene Genetic analysis, Illumina Genetic analysis, Sequenom Viability of cancer drugs on individual patients, Genoptix DERMATOLOGY Facial wrinkle filler, Artes Medical Vaniqa skin cream, Women First Health Care Several skin creams and products, Skin Medica Skin patch for wound healing, Advanced Tissue Sciences OTHER Flavor additives for food, Senomyx First genetically engineered seed, Mycogen Enzymes for livestock feed, Diversa IT systems for drug discovery, Accelrys Robotic research systems, Kalypsys Storage of genetic samples, Biomatrica Storage of genetic samples, GenVault – TERRI SOMERS

“That was the first major protease inhibitor and it really changed the way we treat what was formerly a life-threatening disease,” McCamant said.

Rituxan, for cancer. Both Boston and the Bay Area may lay claim to Rituxan, “but we all know it came out of San Diego, and it's one of the most exciting drugs in history,” McCamant said. Idec, which is responsible for the early-stage development of the drug, merged with Biogen, based in Cambridge, Mass. That company has a collaboration with Genentech, in South San Francisco.

Byetta, for Type 2, or adult onset, diabetes and Symlin for Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes. No new diabetes drug had been approved for more than 18 years before Amylin Pharmaceuticals, in 2005, won approval for two new drugs within weeks of each other, McCamant said. Byetta helps control blood-sugar levels in people having difficulty doing so with other drugs. Symlin helps control extreme fluctuations in blood sugar, particularly after meals.

Panetta of Biocom said he would expand that list to include the first home-grown biotech product, the PSA test, to show how the region's science has benefited all mankind. The PSA test was the first diagnostic tool that physicians could use along with a physical exam to detect one of the biggest cancer threats to men, he said.

The Hybritech test measures the amount of a protein that is produced by the prostate gland. When there's a problem, such as cancer, more prostate-specific antigen is released into the blood. The American Cancer Society attributes better screening for a sharp decline in the U.S. death rate from prostate cancer.

A more recent San Diego-bred product by medical device company NuVasive makes spinal surgery less invasive and debilitating.

Nate Quarry, a fighter on the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit, said NuVasive's products allowed him to undergo complicated surgery to correct a degenerative disc disease that was causing him chronic, grinding back pain.

Fellow fighters had urged Quarry to double up on pain medications and, at all costs, avoid surgery. Surgery meant he would be bedridden for months and could never return to the ring, they told him.

“I was 33 years old and couldn't stand to think about living the rest of my life with the pain,” Quarry said.

Then he met a surgeon in Las Vegas who recommended a surgery developed by NuVasive. It uses a monitor that detects nerves in the patient's back. The monitor allows surgeons to reach the spine through a small incision during a two-hour surgery, rather than what Quarry described as an eight-hour surgery during which they “fillet you like a fish with a 12-inch incision along the spine.”

A day after surgery, Quarry was out of bed and walking. Six months later, he resumed training for his fighting career. Fifteen months after his surgery, he was competing in a televised match.

Diagnostic tools are another big class of biotechnology products being developed in San Diego. Gen-Probe, which has developed highly sensitive tests that are used to detect HIV and hepatitis B and C in donated blood, has had global success.

For years the transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses was among the biggest concerns for blood banks. Gen-Probe's tests, and the automated system that reads them, are now used on about 80 percent of the nation's blood donations to help prevent the spread of disease.

“Their tests have proven to be the leading tests globally,” said Dr. Michael Busch, who heads the Blood Systems Research Institute in San Francisco.

Gen-Probe's technology detects the virus in the blood even if the person has just recently been infected, Busch said. Other tests cannot detect the virus until antibodies have been developed, which could take days, he said. That creates a window of time through which the virus could pass into the donated blood supply and infect its recipient, he said.

Gen-Probe also added West Nile virus testing when, from 2000 to 2002, health experts determined it was being spread through blood and organ donations, said Busch, who now serves on the company's scientific advisory board.

“In the United States, that has prevented infection from more donations than all the years of HIV and hepatitis C testing put together,” Busch said. “Every year the tests pick up 500 to 1,000 donors with West Nile.”

Panetta sees the promise of products to come.

“When I think about how San Diego has already changed the world and what the future holds, I think about Mycogen, which developed the first genetically engineered crops and first microbial pesticide to get away from using chemicals on crops,” he said, recalling the company where he worked for years.

Verenium is now on the cutting edge of biotechnology companies that are developing enzymes to aid in the production of biofuels.

“This is potentially industry-changing technology that could impact our dependence on foreign oil,” he said.

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