The anthrax vaccine that stalled

The goal: to stockpile a vaccine for civilian use. The vaccine: promising. So why is the program on hold?

David N. Taylor '70 P'07 began his research career at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where, he says, the philosophy was that it's better to prevent infections than to treat them. Taking that approach to heart, Taylor used his subspecialty in infectious diseases to start the clinical trials department at Walter Reed. He went on to test cholera vaccines in Peru during an epidemic. After "retiring" in 2002, Taylor came to the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where his background made him an ideal participant in attempts by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a better anthrax vaccine. He is now the chief medical officer for VaxInnate Corporation in Cranbury, New Jersey.

Why did the government decide to develop a new anthrax vaccine in 2002, when it had one already?

Years ago, perhaps in the sixties, the army had developed an inactivated cell vaccine against anthrax. It had been used to immunize small numbers of people who might have an environmental exposure or some kind of military exposure, so maybe fifty people, maximum, would get immunized. Then in 1998, the Department of Defense decided that the entire military should be immunized against anthrax. It was an unpopular program, because the old vaccine was rather crude and had lots of side effects. And it took six shots. We needed a replacement vaccine, using modern technology.

What happened to the new vaccine?

A new vaccine was developed that used recombinant technology to produce the most important component of the old vaccine, known as protective antigen. The new vaccine was produced by Vaxgen Incorporated, a small vaccine company in California. In a small number of volunteers the vaccine was safe and was well tolerated by those who received three injections. This vaccine also produced an antibody response that looked like it was strong enough to protect against anthrax infection. The problem came when Vaxgen tried to manufacture large lots. They ran into a number of delays, and the department of Health and Human Services decided not to continue their contract to produce the anthrax vaccine stockpile. So Vaxgen now has no funding to develop their anthrax vaccine. One thing that did come out of the contracting process is that the government realized that it is a long research and development process to produce new vaccines and you really need to fund the company all the way along to actually develop a product.

Would an anthrax attack be easy to carry out?

In 2001, shortly after September 11, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to journalists and senators. Seventeen people were infected with anthrax and five people died after inhaling the spores. These letters were considered a terrorist attack but it was never discovered where the anthrax was made or who was involved. We know that anthrax can be made into a powder that can cause a deadly disease when inhaled. So we already know that anthrax can be made into a bioweapon that is both cheap and deadly. Although we hope that we will never need to use a vaccine against anthrax, we know that it is necessary to prepare for such an event by creating new vaccines.

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