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October 4, 2002
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"NIH Is Funding New Generation of Anthrax Vaccine"
Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) (10/04/02) P. B4; Chase, Marilyn
In the hopes of accelerating the development of a new streamlined anthrax vaccine, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has conferred $22.5 million in contracts to VaxGen Inc. and Avecia. The NIH funds will be used to develop new and improved vaccines that would meet the requirements of the current anthrax vaccine distributed by Bioport, and generate immunity in three doses within 18 months, instead of the standard six doses. Under terms of the grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, VaxGen and Avecia will deliver pilot doses, as well as a manufacturing plan for producing more than 20 million doses, by 2003. Human safety studies of the vaccine are expected to start by May.
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