Antra​x Vacci​ne Deals​ Signe​d Yet Unans​wered​ Scare​s Remai​n

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

July 31, 2008 - This news item is a shocking story about how the US government is killing it's own soldiers, by giving them shot of a vaccine that is causing severe reactions and illnesses


MANDATORY MILITARY ANTHRAX VACCINE 2007


August 1, 2008 - US officials say the Army scientist they suspected in the 2001 deadly anthrax attacks may have released the toxin as a way to test the strength of the drugs he was working on.Bruce Ivins committed suicide this week just as federal prosecutors say they were planning to indict and seek the death penalty against him.
Ivins, seen here juggling at a 1984 St Patrick's Day festival in Maryland, was a top microbiologist who worked at this lab in Maryland. He was working to develop an Anthrax vaccine and complained about the limitations of testing on animals.Authorities theorize that the anthrax may have been sent as a way test the new vaccines.
Five people were killed in those attacks that terrified a nation already on edge from the Nine-Eleven attacksA lawyer for Ivins, though, says he was innocent and that his death is the result of the government's "relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo"

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PharmAthene Awarded With $83,9 Million Contract
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eFlux Media
September 29th 2008

http://www. efluxmedia. com/news_PharmAthene_Awarded_With_839_Contr...

PharmAthene has received a multi-year contract to develop and commercialize an anthrax vaccine, according to a press release

For the advanced development of a third generation recombinant protective antigen anthrax vaccine, PharmAthene has been awarded a federal contract worth up to $83.
9 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

In the beginning, the biodefense research company will receive about $13.2 million throughout a "base period" of performance. During this interval, PharmAthene will have to do preclinical activities like the development and qualification of assays, conducting toxicology studies and stability testing, as well as developing non-clinical animal models.
As part of the agreement, NIAID maintains its possibility of extending the contract under two divided options with a combined value of maximum $97 million

The third generation program aims at developing an rPA anthrax vaccine that can maintain stability for no less than three years at 35 degrees Celsius. The vaccine should also induce protective immunity in two doses or only one.
Starting 2005, its development has been sponsored by an NIH grant

Taking into consideration “development efforts to date, PharmAthene's third-generation vaccine could offer significant improvements in both stability and storage compared to the current FDA approved vaccine,” said David P.
Wright, PharmAthene President and Chief Executive Officer

PharmAthene, which is “pleased that NIAID has awarded such a significant contract,” believes that the contract is part of a larger strategy planned by the Department of Health and Human Services to make sure that the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) has the most successful anthrax countermeasures which currently exist


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Biotechs Get Rival Deals To Build Anthrax Vaccine
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By Kendra Marr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 27, 2008

The race to develop and supply the government with anthrax-fighting drugs just got more heated

Two rival biotechs -- Emergent BioSolutions of Rockville and PharmAthene of Annapolis -- announced yesterday that they received separate federal development contracts to build new anthrax vaccines

Emergent is currently the government's sole supplier of anthrax vaccine under a $448 million contract to stockpile 18.75 million doses of BioThrax.
But BioThrax requires six injections over 18 months to produce immunity and inoculated soldiers have reported serious side effects

So the government is looking for better vaccine technology

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, along with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), awarded Emergent up to $29.
7 million to develop an improved form of BioThrax that requires fewer injections but still needs to be refrigerated

The institute also awarded PharmAthene up to $83.
9 million to create a genetically modified anthrax vaccine that can be stored at room temperature and induce immunity in just one or two doses

PharmAthene's stock increased 4.5 percent, closing at $1.86. Emergent's stock closed at $14.
65, jumping about 3 percent

Both companies are competing to supply the Strategic National Stockpile with 25 million doses of a recombinant, or genetically engineered, anthrax vaccine. A recombinant version is supposed to stimulate immunity faster, with fewer side effects, but would still need to be kept cold.
The Department of Health and Human Services plans to award the contract, or multiple contracts, this fall

Meanwhile, PharmAthene and Emergent have been enhancing their respective anthrax franchises by creating new vaccines and therapies to treat people who have been exposed to anthrax spores

PharmAthene's $83.9 million award is a big win, said Stephen G.
Brozak, president of WBB Securities, a San Diego-based investment and research firm

"This was obviously more important to PharmAthene than it was to Emergent," he said. "When you don't have revenue, any kind of positive news has a disproportionate effect. People automatically assumed Emergent was going to get it.
People weren't sure about PharmAthene"

The awards coincide with BARDA Industry Day in Arlington, where government and business leaders gathered to discuss biodefense and public health issues

And it's a sign that health officials are learning from their past mistakes, Brozak said. Two years ago, when VaxGen, a South San Francisco, Calif.
, biotech, lost its federal contract to develop and supply a recombinant anthrax vaccine, the government didn't have a backup

"Now they're diversifying their purchasing," Brozak said .