Cuban President's Support of Toronto Biotechnology Firm Raises U.S. Suspicions.

Byline: Michael Kranish

May 15--WASHINGTON--All of the elements of a classic biotech tale are present.

There are scientists touting a revolutionary cancer treatment, a tiny company willing to finance the idea, a university hoping to reap big licensing fees, and a government official who believes there are billions of dollars to be made.

But this is not the tale of another Massachusetts start-up. This tale unfolds in Cuba, and the government official is President Fidel Castro.

The tiny biotech company, YM Biosciences of Toronto, has made a deal with the University of Havana to produce a cancer vaccine that could compete against one being produced by a US company. If the deal goes through, Castro's government could receive hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and help biotech become the biggest money maker for the island nation after tourism, tobacco, rum, and sugar.

Until this month, such deals have received relatively little attention outside the biotech world. But last week, the Bush administration accused Castro of using the biotech business to conceal development of biological weaponry materials that might have been exported to Iran and other countries.

That charge, in turn, prompted Castro on Monday to escort former President Jimmy Carter -- in Havana on a long-scheduled trip -- to…