DOD starts new vaccine development
UPI
The Pentagon is working on a single vaccine to counter all kinds of hemorrhagic fever like Ebola or Barburg.
It is also working on a single vaccine for all "intracellular" pathogens like the plague, said Peter C. W. Flory, the assistant secretary of defense for international security policy at a Senate Armed Services Hearing Wednesday.
The vaccine research is part of a $1.5 billion investment over the next five years to develop broad spectrum countermeasures to advanced biological weapons threats.
The standard approach has been to develop single drugs for every different bug.
The "one-drug, one-bug" approach is meant to develop countermeasures for evolving threats. If a terrorist or rogue state develops a new type of hemorrhagic fever, the super drug would conceivably be able to counter it.
The vaccine or drug would also allow U.S. forces to quickly deploy to areas where those diseases are threats.
Also Wednesday, a New Jersey pharmaceuticals company announced it had completed the first phase of a new human clinical study for a new anthrax treatment called Anthim on healthy volunteers.
Anthim is an antibody that targets the protective antigen component of anthrax, blocking the bacteria's ability to form deadly toxins, according to a company statement. The Food and Drug Administration has given it fast-track status. It can be issued as a prophylactic prior to exposure or as a treatment up to 48 hours after exposure to anthrax.
The test showed no serious adverse effects and the drug was tolerated by all volunteers in a 42-day study, according to Elusys Therapeutics Inc., of Pine Brook N.J.
Based on the results of the study, Elusys is preparing to commercially manufacture the drug in hopes of securing a government contract to produce it. Elusys received a $5 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Department of Defense to develop the drug in 2005.
The Pentagon is working on a single vaccine to counter all kinds of hemorrhagic fever like Ebola or Barburg.
It is also working on a single vaccine for all "intracellular" pathogens like the plague, said Peter C. W. Flory, the assistant secretary of defense for international security policy at a Senate Armed Services Hearing Wednesday.
The vaccine research is part of a $1.5 billion investment over the next five years to develop broad spectrum countermeasures to advanced biological weapons threats.
The standard approach has been to develop single drugs for every different bug.
The "one-drug, one-bug" approach is meant to develop countermeasures for evolving threats. If a terrorist or rogue state develops a new type of hemorrhagic fever, the super drug would conceivably be able to counter it.
The vaccine or drug would also allow U.S. forces to quickly deploy to areas where those diseases are threats.
Also Wednesday, a New Jersey pharmaceuticals company announced it had completed the first phase of a new human clinical study for a new anthrax treatment called Anthim on healthy volunteers.
Anthim is an antibody that targets the protective antigen component of anthrax, blocking the bacteria's ability to form deadly toxins, according to a company statement. The Food and Drug Administration has given it fast-track status. It can be issued as a prophylactic prior to exposure or as a treatment up to 48 hours after exposure to anthrax.
The test showed no serious adverse effects and the drug was tolerated by all volunteers in a 42-day study, according to Elusys Therapeutics Inc., of Pine Brook N.J.
Based on the results of the study, Elusys is preparing to commercially manufacture the drug in hopes of securing a government contract to produce it. Elusys received a $5 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Department of Defense to develop the drug in 2005.
