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February 26, 2003
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Vaccine Contracts Awarded"
Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (02/26/03) P. A8; Brown, David
The federal government has awarded Acambis and Bavarian Nordic contracts to develop a safer smallpox vaccine using the "modified vaccinia Ankara" (MVA) virus, which is a very weak version of the microbe used for the smallpox vaccine. The safer vaccine might even work for immuno-compromised people. The two companies will get $20 million in all to grow and test the virus, and Acambis executive Gordon Cameron says that the work should be completed by the end of the year. Next year will see tests on immuno-compromised volunteers, but the federal government will probably order 30 million doses of the vaccine to stockpile. MVA was developed by German researchers who used it to vaccinate people with eczema, but it has not been tested against the disease itself; it is also being tested as a vector for other potential vaccines.
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