The New York Times concludes that the country's $5.6 billion Project BioShield is largely a bust so far. Big pharma never did like the low upside or liability risks associated with developing new therapies for anthrax and other potential bioterror weapons. But perhaps the government's biggest problem was being forced to deal with small biotech companies that made large promises they couldn't keep. VaxGen comes in for star treatment, of course, with its troubled $900 million effort to develop a new vaccine for anthrax [1]. And with the program mired in controversy over hardball lobbying efforts, other drug developers say they're even less likely to jump in now.
- read the article [2] on Project BioShield from The New York Times
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/vaxgen-to-miss-deadline-for-anthrax-vaccine/2006-03-17
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/washington/18anthrax.html?hp&ex=1158638400&en=9250d08acf3e15e8&ei=5094&partner=homepage