The United States has contracted two pharmaceutical companies to produce 25 million doses of a new anthrax vaccine, health officials said yesterday.  Under a fast-track proposal, production is scheduled to begin by late next year (see GSN, Aug. 8).

“There is an urgent need to devise more effective measures to protect U.S. citizens from the harmful effects of anthrax spores used as instruments of terror,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said.

British company Avecia and U.S. company VaxGen received the contracts to produce the vaccine, worth a combined $22.5 million.  The contracts call for a vaccine that can be used as a post-exposure treatment and can be administered in three or fewer doses.  The current vaccine, in use by the Pentagon, requires six doses administered over 18 months.

The new anthrax vaccine is also to be produced through more modern techniques than the current vaccine, according to the Washington Post.  Developers plan to use “recombinant” technology to use genetically engineered bacteria and leave out extraneous substances that could cause side effects, according to the Washington Post (Washington Post, Oct. 4).

For further information, see:

CDC Frequently Asked Questions About Anthrax

Journal of the American Medical Association Background on Anthrax

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