Bayer wants to protect its patent on the anthrax-fighting antibiotic, but that doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't grant an emergency exemption to a generic drug maker.
Investigators have turned up no physical evidence linking Hatfill to the anthrax attacks, according to federal sources, and say they don't consider him a suspect in the case.
In the past week, the Canadian government threatened to buy generic forms of Cipro from other drug companies, but it, too, reached an agreement to rely on Bayer to supply the anti-anthrax drug Cipro and only use generic drugs if the company can't deliver.