NIH official touts progress on biological defenses

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The United States has made progress in developing several new treatments and vaccines against a variety of biological weapons agents, with some set to be introduced into U.S. defenses by the end of 2005, the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told Global Security Newswire yesterday.

Institute Director Anthony Fauci described the progress in developing new biological defenses during an interview with GSN on the sidelines of this year's summit of the Group of Eight global economic powers, being held at Sea Island, Ga. The G-8 nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- yesterday approved a nonproliferation action plan that calls for several measures against bioterrorism, including new surveillance capabilities, improved protection and response capabilities and strengthened efforts to protect the global food supply.

A new smallpox vaccine that poses less risk from side effects than the current inoculation has entered Phase 1 safety trials after having been found to provide protection in monkeys and mice, Fauci said. The new vaccine, which is being jointly developed by the National Institutes of Health and several pharmaceutical companies, could be introduced into the national pharmaceutical stockpile by the end of next year.

Progress has also been made in developing a more advanced vaccine against anthrax, Fauci said. He said that a contract is likely to be awarded by the end of the summer to produce 75 million doses of the new vaccine, enough to vaccinate 25 million people since it requires only three doses instead of the current vaccine, which requires six inoculations. Fauci refused to say, however, what companies are being considered for the anthrax vaccine contract.

In addition, a new Ebola vaccine is set to undergo Phase 1 safety trials, Fauci said. He also said the Bush administration is seeking to develop at least two treatments against every Level A pathogen as classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Such agents include smallpox, anthrax, botulism toxin, tularemia and hemorrhagic viruses.

While some researchers have complained that the Bush administration's massive funding of biological defenses has hurt other scientific efforts, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer research, Fauci yesterday defended the outlay, which he said was the largest ever spent on a single research issue by the National Institutes of Health.

In addition to providing new treatments and vaccines against biological weapons, the Bush administration's biological research efforts have also provided valuable information on other types of infectious diseases, Fauci said. For example, basic microbial and host response research conducted as part of biological defense efforts have also aided research into new treatments against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, he said. Such additional benefits, however, receive less media attention and are less appreciated, Fauci added.