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January 10, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Military Says It Can't Make Enough Vaccines for Troops"

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (01/09/03) P. A8; Schmitt, Eric

Twenty vaccines against various deadly agents were developed by the Pentagon, but they have been shelved due to a lack of interest from commercial pharmaceutical companies in their further development, according to biodefense officer and U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Director Erik A. Henchal.  He believes that new financing methods or a new drug production facility for the military are needed to alleviate the problem.  Henchal asserts that the country and the military, which are both lacking an adequate supply of vaccines to protect them from biological agents, are vulnerable to bioterrorism.  He points to protection against botulinum toxin as the largest hole in America's vaccine defenses; the high cost of producing the seven vaccines against botulism developed by the Pentagon is keeping them off the market, he explains.

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