Biotechs Get Rival Deals To Build Anthrax Vaccine

The Washington Post reports on $113.6 million in government contracts to develop new anthrax vaccines. Two rival biotechs -- Emergent BioSolutions of Rockville and PharmAthene of Annapolis -- announced yesterday that they received separate federal development contracts. This is further evidence that, despite a $448 million contract landed by Emergent to supply 18.75 million doses of anthrax vaccine, the Emergent/Bioport vaccine is unsatisfactory and must be replaced--primarily due to its weak efficacy, required yearly boosters and frequent serious (and permanent) side effects.