National Security Watch: Changing of the czars
The contract is part of Project BioShield, a $5.6 billion effort to beef up U.S. reserves of vaccines for chemical and biological agents. In November 2004, the Health and Human Services Department selected a small pharmaceutical company called VaxGen, which had never produced an FDA-approved vaccine, for the $877.5 million contract. VaxGen agreed to provide 75 million doses–enough for 25 million people–by the end of 2007. But the first vaccine won't be delivered until 2006, according to company spokesman Paul LaLand. (One reason given: The vaccine depends on next-generation technology developed in an Army medical lab that had never been used to develop an FDA-approved anthrax vaccine at the time the contract was issued.)
The timeline is leaving some critics (including VaxGen competitors) crying foul. BioPort, which developed an earlier anthrax vaccine in the 1970s, is launching a public relations offensive. BioPort recently agreed to supply 5 million doses of its vaccine for the stockpile more rapidly (and has already delivered some 1 million doses). Dan Abdun-Nabi, a vice president and general counsel for BioPort's parent company, insists that BioPort could boost production "almost immediately." (BioPort's critics fire back that its vaccine, which was sold to the military, produces some negative side effects.)
Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who chairs the Finance Committee, is also demanding answers from the Bush administration about the slow pace [Related PDF]. One of his concerns: A scientist who helped the Army develop the technology underlying the new vaccine was also involved in choosing VaxGen for the contract. Look for hearings as early as this summer. –Angie C. Marek
The State Department has been touting its monthly Arabic-language magazine called hi as a key part of its outreach to young Arabs in the larger war of ideas against extremism. Available in 18 countries around the Middle East, the magazine distributes some 45,000 copies a month.
So, many public diplomacy watchers were surprised–and chagrined–by the magazine's April 2005 issue, which chose to introduce "metrosexuals" to its readership. "Real men moisturize," it begins. Citing British soccer hunk David Beckham as something of a role model, the article explores the benefits of pedicures, facials, and generally looking spiffy. Just another part of the battle for hearts, minds, and pores. –David E. Kaplan
Overheated rhetoric of the week: "Cheney is hated as the most cruel monster and bloodthirsty beast, as he has drenched various parts of the world in blood" – North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman, as quoted by the official North Korean news agency.
Coming up this week: The Senate Intelligence Committee looks at a series of proposed reforms to the Patriot Act.
advertisement
