Research Money? Guaranteed Customer?
Officials promote BioShield
Officials promote BioShield
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Giving the government unprecedented authority to buy and distribute vaccines and antidotes against bioterrorism would hasten the development of new and better drugs, administration officials said Wednesday.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Bush proposed Project BioShield, which would provide about $6 billion over 10 years to combat smallpox, anthrax and botulinum toxin, a deadly food poisoning agent. "We must assume that our enemies would use these diseases as weapons, and we must act before the dangers are upon us," he said.
Medical treatments for some types of agents have improved little in decades. Smallpox vaccines aren't much different from those last used by the public in the 1960s. Antibiotics made specifically to combat anthrax or plague have not been developed.
The need for bioterrorism drugs and vaccines is great. Botulinum toxin, for instance, is one of Saddam Hussein's major bioweapons. Yet the source of the nation's best antidote could dry up this year: California's antitoxin program faces elimination as a result of the state's record $35 billion deficit.
Under the plan, the government could guarantee drug companies a buyer for their products. Without that guarantee, pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to spend what it takes to develop and produce the needed medicines, officials said.
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Aquaman