After terrorists import germ warfare samples, a refugee scientist must face the nightmare of retrieving the antidote from Syria before it can be manufactured and released.

It's a pretty great idea. I can already feel the tension.

Thanks for the lengthy reply. Not quite what I have in mind (certainly not a SAS team), but a good foundation to build on. BTW, "antidote" is not the right word for a virus. Any suggestions? Antitoxin? Neutralising agent?

Understood problem is that is not clear from the logline.

I find the antidote retrieval more interesting than saving his family as the stakes are higher. More so as the antidote is the A plot goal best to describe this in the logline and not his family.

Secondly I find a scientist taking on a bunch of terrorist on the way to his former lab highly improbably perhaps he has a team of specialists with him to secure the antidote's return.

The current draft of the logline states the inciting incident to be the terrorists importing a biological weapon. How is this connected (in the logline) to the MC's goal of retrieving an antidote from Syria?

Whilst the reader could draw the conclusion that the MC is a refugee scientist from Syria and also draw the conclusion that he was the one working on the antidote for the virus over there it isn't a directly clear from the logline and reduces the cause and effect relationship. There appear to be missing words in the logline that explain this.

Many would agree that the 25 or 30 word limit (depends on who you ask) is not a must and currently the logline presents a fragmented concept as a result of a strict adherence to it.

No producer I know would count your words during a pitch and stop you after 25 a good idea is a good idea and if your pitching one a good producer would listen. Obviously less is more and the better concepts require less words to pitch in a clear way.

Needles to say if you are still in the writing process and structuring the plot the word limit is equally un important.

I would suggest this:
After terrorists steal a deadly virus from his lab in Syria a refugee scientist living in Australia he must join an SAS team to retrieve the antidote from his former work place.