MADISON, Wis. -- With the nation locked in a credit vice, companies that depend on it to finance their futures are forced to think differently.

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Neoclone, a Madison-based biotech firm, makes monoclonal antibodies to be used in research and healthcare. Started in 1999, the company has used its strong credit to help it nearly double in size within a year, but the financial sources for credit are running out, WISC-TV reported.

"They had to very politely say 'we're very sorry, but we're not giving out credit right now,' " said Deven McGlenn ,CEO of Neoclone.

McGlenn is referring to his bank's response when they tried to get a loan to help grow the company. The denial came in spite of a strong five year relationship with the bank, in which McGlenn said his company had a strong credit history.

That denial was three months ago, and is part of why he isn't convinced a congressional bailout could save the American economy. He already knew the situation was bad.

"This financial situation that we're in, is not something from my perspective, that has happened overnight or in the last week," said McGlenn.

Flugen Inc., a company hoping to find success making new flu vaccines, including one more effective for the elderly, also sees the potential for struggle on the horizon.

"We have enough money for a couple of years to do what we need to do, and we're hiring new people and we're hiring new people and we're really excited about the future," said Paul Radspinner, the company?s president and CEO. "But after two years well be challenged if we can't raise additional funds."

The company's business model calls for doing that with angel investors and venture capitalists, two groups likely to shy away from upstart investing if the market stays down.

"If the market isn't doing well, people aren't doing well, then we're not going to do well being able to raise that money," Radspinner said.