Project BioShield will provide incentives for private-sector scientists, physicians, and researchers to develop lifesaving treatments. Congress has made available $5.6 billion over 10 years to purchase and stockpile a national supply of drugs and vaccines for use if a biological weapon is set loose by terrorists on an unsuspecting American public.
BioShield will speed research and development on new drugs and antidotes at the National Institutes of Health and in our national laboratories. And it will allow, if germ warfare breaks out, distribution of developmental lifesaving drugs on a fast-track approval basis to save innocent lives, so long as the benefits outweigh potential risks.