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August 5, 2002
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Anthrax Vaccine Maker Calls Finances Shaky"
New York Times ( www.nytimes.com ) (08/05/02) P. A10; Miller,
Judith
BioPort Corp., the sole manufacturer of anthrax vaccine in the
United States, said that its financial situation is at risk,
because the White House has not specified exactly how much
vaccine it plans to purchase. According to company head Robert
Kramer, foreign and private customers have offered to buy the
vaccine for over $100 a dose; however, the company cannot sell to
them until it has fulfilled its Pentagon contract, a deal which
one administration official said was for about 3.4 million doses.
The military is paying about $20 a dose for the anthrax
vaccine--which is over three times the price originally
negotiated three years ago but still too low for the company to
make necessary long-term investments, company officials say.
While Bush administration officials sympathize with the firm's
situation, they also noted that BioPort must shoulder some of the
blame, citing faulty business assumptions, repeated failures to
meet Food and Drug Administration requirements, and overly
optimistic vaccine production assumptions.
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