U.S. bird flu budget focuses on future vaccines

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U.S. bird flu budget focuses on future vaccines

Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:43 PM ET

 

 

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By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

 

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - More than half the U.S. bird

flu budget will go to developing new vaccines, Health and Human

Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said on Monday, but he stressed

that companies, schools and local officials would have to do most of

the work of preparing for a pandemic.

 

Another big part of the $3.3 billion allocated by Congress for

this year would go to stockpiling drugs that fight influenza, Leavitt

told reporters.

 

" The bulk of our money -- $1.781 billion of the money -- is

directed at a vaccine, " Leavitt said.

 

In the meantime, he said, state and local officials, companies,

schools and individuals should be preparing for the economic and

social disruption that would come with any pandemic.

 

The H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread across Europe, taken

hold in Africa and flared anew in Asia in recent weeks. While it

remains mostly a disease of poultry, it can occasionally infect people

and has sickened 176, killing 98 of them, according to the World

Health Organization.

 

That does not include three people reported by Azerbaijan's

Health Ministry on Monday as having died from the virus.

 

Leavitt and other experts say it is only a matter of time,

perhaps just a few months, before the virus spreads to birds in the

United States. No one can say if or when the virus would mutate into a

form spread easily from person to person, thus setting off a pandemic.

 

Last year, U.S. President George W. Bush asked Congress for $7.1

billion to prepare for a pandemic. Congress approved just half of that

and Leavitt on Monday released the details of how it would be spent.

 

His report said $731 million would be spent on drugs such as

Roche's <ROG.VX> and Gilead Sciences' <GILD.O> Tamiflu and

GlaxoSmithKline's <GSK.L> Relenza. Leavitt said he hoped the federal

government would have 26 million courses of the antivirals by the end

of the year.

 

BUYING MASKS AND VENTILATORS

 

" In addition to stockpiling antivirals, $162 million will be

used to procure essential medical supplies for a pandemic. Planned

purchases this year include 6,000 ventilators, 50 million surgical

masks, 50 million N95 respirators (face masks), and face shields,

gloves and gowns, " the report reads.

 

Last week, Leavitt's office authorized the development of a

second vaccine formulation using one of the new strains of H5N1 that

has emerged as it spreads from birds to people.

 

Companies are already developing and testing vaccines based on

the strain that infected people in Vietnam in 2004, but at least two

substrains have since emerged that are different enough to justify

making a new formulation.

 

" We are within a matter of weeks before we will put ... out

contracts to major manufacturers, " Leavitt said.

 

He said HHS would also be looking for proposals from companies

to make vaccines using new technologies that do not rely on eggs, as

current influenza vaccines do, and perhaps using boosters known as

adjuvants to stretch the vaccine supply.

 

Leavitt has been traveling across the United States holding

pandemic " summits " where he hears concerns and urges local leaders to

get busy preparing for a pandemic. He issues checklists and signs a

" contract " with each state on what it plans to do.

 

He has seen much that worries him -- a lack of hospital space,

few ideas for when and how to close schools and difficulties

surrounding the distribution of drugs and vaccines.

 

" I am seeing many states exercise their plans and when they

exercise their plans, weaknesses are revealed, " Leavitt said. " And

when weaknesses are revealed, things get better. "

 

 

 

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