Frederic Downing was a former researcher at the Raccoon City branch of the Umbrella Corporation. After escaping prior to the city's destruction, he later became a chief researcher for WilPharma Corporation.
History
Early History
Little is known about Downing's past due to his erasure of it, but what can be established is that he is originally a British national from Southern England. At some point, he was employed by Umbrella Corporation as a researcher.
As a researcher in the Raccoon City Underground Laboratory, Frederic Downing managed to steal samples of both the t-virus and newly-developed G-virus and escaped the city before its destruction with the intention to sell the viruses on the black market for his own profit. Using his knowledge on the t-virus, Downing began to develop the 't-vaccine'. While developing the vaccine, he came up with the plan to stage a demonstration in order to prove its efficiency, and prevent it from being sold other than as a combined set with the virus.
In 2002, Downing joined WilPharma, another giant pharmaceutical company, after erasing his past. That same year, he disguised himself as a black market broker and approached General Miguel Grande of the Republic of Bajirib, who was supporting a terrorist group in India. He sold the t-virus to the General, sparking a bioterrorism incident in India and setting the stage for his 'demonstration' which resulted in a private contract between WilPharma and the Pentagon.
Harvardville Bioterrorism Incident (November 2005)
With the construction of the Air Dome Laboratory in Harvardville and continued clinical trials conducted in India with the vaccine, Downing was able to complete the t-vaccine in 2005. Afterwards, he decided to stage yet another demonstration with the viruses and prove the marketability of the vaccine. On October 23, 2005, Downing infected one of his employees with the t-virus on an Atmos Airlines plane scheduled to arrive at Harvardville Airport. Another proponent of Downing's plan was to use Curtis Miller, taking advantage of his fanatical tendencies and using him as a terrorist scapegoat and providing him with detailed information and the layout of the Air Dome Research Facility.
At exactly 3pm, Miller had successfully leaked the t-virus in Harvardville Airport. At the same time, the plane infected by Downing's machinations crashed directly into the airport terminal, unleashing even more zombies in the airport. The final stage of his plan was to convince Miller to inject himself with the G-virus after convincing him that there was no chance of him causing another tragedy like the one in Raccoon City, and use him as a test subject against the U.S. Marines deployed to Harvardville while recording his live field performance on the facility's security cameras to present to Miguel Grande. After escaping the facility before a bomb was set off by Curtis, Downing waited on a hill-side for a representative of Grande while observing the scene with a case containing the t-virus and t-vaccine.
In the end, Downing's plot was foiled by Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield and Angela Miller and he was detained and interrogated over the next 3 days. In the end, he was placed under arrest by the United States Government.
Disputed Claims
To Claire Redfield, Downing claimed that WilPharma intended to develop a vaccine for the G-virus, but plans were shelved after not even Senator Ron Davis could convince the United States Government that the virus posed an adequate threat. The validity of these claims are unclear but if true, it is believed that the government's acquisition of the antibody against the virus from the blood of Sherry Birkin in 1998 negated any need for WilPharma to develop a vaccine of their own.