HHS Hollers Back
In a response I received after my anthrax vaccine story had been posted, Health and Human Services spokesman Bill Hall denied that his agency had erred in withdrawing the Vaxgen contract. Vaxgen missed its deadlines and failed to fix its problems, he said, and HHS was still pursuing a recombinant anthrax vaccine (as I noted in the story, Emergent is likely to win this contract). Hall said I had been remiss in not interviewing some of the companies that were successfully working on Bioshield. "No one ever bothers to report on all our successes or ask those companies who have successfully worked with the BioShield program about their experiences," he said, "such as Human Genome Sciences (eds note: HGS is making monoclonal antibody against anthrax), BioPort/Emergent Biosolutions, Cangene (botulinium antitoxin), Bavarian Nordic (new-generation smallpox vaccine), Akorn Inc. (anti-radioactive isotope chelator), Fleming & Company Pharmaceuticals (anti-radiation medicine), etc." A list of all HHS Bioshield procurements can be found here.
I still insist that HHS botched the recombinant anthrax vaccine contract.
Comments:
Posted 05/20/2008 02:02am with
1. Check on Bill Hall’s background.
2. ask the simple question, Would we have a vaccine stockpile of the improved vaccine on hand today if HHS had worked with VaxGen instead of firing them. (Answer is yes! almost certainly). What they “gave” to Emergent (developed with HHS funds and VaxGen’s own funds by VaxGen) is a perfected product that just needs final testing (most likely), and just wait, Emergent will ask the US to waive final testing before delivery just as it was supposed to have been waived for VaxGen originally.