3 drug makers get bird flu vaccine deals

[Dover]

And the winners are....


3 drug makers get bird flu vaccine deals


The government has awarded contracts to three drug makers to develope a vaccine for bird flu using technology that will help stretch the supply of the medicine. The contracts, valued at $132.5 million...

...snip...

The Department of Health and Human Services awarded five-year contracts to GlaxoSmithKline PLC for $63.3 million and to Novartis AG for $54.8 million.

The department also will pay Iomai Corp. $14.4 million to complete preliminary trials of its candidate vaccine. Iomai may receive an additional $114 million upon successful completion of those trials.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=554615

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Isn't Rummy somehow connected to this bird flu vaccine?

[mcscajun]

1. Yes and No.

He owns (and has owned and sold some of his holdings) stock in the company that makes Tamiflu. Tamiflu is not a vaccine; it's a drug to be taken after exposure.

The vaccine doesn't exist yet; it cannot even be developed unless and until whatever strain makes the leap to human-to-human transmission.

On edit (from Snopes): Tamiflu does not cure the flu, but if taken soon after symptoms appear, Tamiflu can reduce the flu's severity. As to how well it's going to match up against bird flu, that is not yet known and indeed it may well not be knowable until the time comes. However, it is anticipated Tamiflu will have at least some effect against bird flu, and with that in mind, more than 60 countries (including the U.S.) have so far ordered large stocks of it. Such stockpiling is likely going to appear highly prudent if the bird flu pandemic, a worldwide medical disaster the United Nations estimates could kill 150 million people, does materialize.