U.S. to buy enough smallpox vaccine for everyone

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Wednesday that it has contracted with a small British biotechnology company to buy enough smallpox vaccine to be able to inoculate every American by the end of next year, though it has no current plans to do so.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said the government will pay $428-million for 155-million doses of a smallpox vaccine being developed by Acambis plc, a struggling pharmaceutical firm based in Cambridge, England.

"By signing this contract, we have created a stockpile of security against the smallpox virus," Thompson said.

The government said it has no plans to resume widespread smallpox inoculations, which ended in the United States in 1972. The last case of smallpox in the United States was in 1949 and the virus was deemed to be eradicated worldwide in 1980.

But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have renewed fears that the deadly virus might be deliberately released as part of a bioterrorism campaign.

Such concerns were heightened by the recent anthrax attacks, and government health officials have been negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for several weeks to increase supplies of the vaccine.

Health officials stressed that there have been no cases of smallpox and there is little reason for public anxiety.

"We hope that increasing our smallpox vaccine stockpile would serve as a deterrent to any individual terrorist who would consider using smallpox as a weapon against us," Thompson said.

The government will pay $2.76 a dose, or $428-million, which is below the $509-million already budgeted by the White House and Congress.

Delivery of the vaccine is expected to begin next fall and be completed by the end of the year. The new supplies are in addition to a previous contract, also with Acambis, to provide 54-million doses.

The government also has about 15.4-million doses of an older vaccine that has been stockpiled since the 1980s. Researchers are optimistic that they will be able to dilute the older vaccine to increase the number of doses to 77-million. Preliminary test results suggest that the dilution does not reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.

All combined, that would give the government a total of 286-million doses, or enough for every American.

The contract was a bonanza for tiny Acambis, which beat out larger rivals Merck & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline. Thompson said Acambis offered a cheaper price and faster delivery than the other companies, but he would not provide specifics.

The 9-year-old Acambis, which also has an office in Cambridge, Mass., lost $16-million last year on revenue of about $9-million. It is also working on vaccines for West Nile disease and dengue fever.

"In terms of contracts, this is the largest we've ever had," said Acambis spokeswoman Lyndsay Wright. "This will make us profitable next year."

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