AR-News: "Promising" new smallpox vaccine

[Andrew Gach]

If I had $100 for every  "promising" new drug based on rat and mice studies to see it flop a few months later, I might make it into Fortune's list of the 50 richest persons in the world.    Andy
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washingtonpost.com 
Government Considers New Smallpox Vaccine 


By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 15, 2004; Page E01 


Buoyed by promising results in animal experiments, government officials are contemplating buying massive quantities of a new type of smallpox vaccine to supplement the national stockpile already assembled in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. 

Scientists believe that unlike any of the vaccines now available, the new vaccine may be effective in protecting against the deadly infectious disease without the risk of serious -- and occasionally lethal -- side effects. 

Efforts to develop the new vaccine, underway for several years, have taken on an air of urgency after safety concerns stalled a 2003 campaign to vaccinate millions of health care professionals and emergency workers who might be first to respond to a biological attack. Those concerns were underscored on Tuesday, when the vaccine that makes up the bulk of the U.S. stockpile was possibly linked to cases of heart inflammation. 

As doubts grow about the existing vaccines, scientists are increasingly optimistic about the prospects for the experimental vaccine, called Modified Vaccinia Ankara, or MVA.

Scientists say recently conducted studies using MVA on mice and monkeys indicated the vaccine is both effective and safe, results that are especially encouraging for the some 30 percent of the population that is not supposed to take any of the vaccines now available because of a high risk of complications. That group includes people with HIV, those with compromised immune systems due to chemotherapy, pregnant women and individuals with the skin disease eczema.

But some government officials say MVA has shown such promise that it could do far more than merely fill the gaps left by other vaccines, and that it may become the nation's primary means of defense against a smallpox attack. They say, too, that it could help resuscitate the foundering national campaign to vaccinate millions of emergency workers who would be responsible for cutting off the deadly virus's spread in the event of an outbreak.

Full story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13095-2004Apr14?language=printer
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