Bioterrorism: A Challenge We Cannot Decline to Meet

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The Role of Biotechnology in Biodefense Preparedness This July briefing on Capitol Hill covered a range of technologies for biodefense preparedness, from research tools and diagnostics to vaccine technologies, to a broad range of therapeutics. Watch the video (WMV 50 min.)

Biotechnology scientists and executives are eager to use the technologies that have transformed mainstream health care to develop an arsenal of products for biodefense: diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines that could be used to thwart or respond to attacks with biological, chemical or radioactive weapons.

Although desperately needed, such products present thorny policy and development challenges. For one thing, there is no natural market for biodefense products: They would be used only rarely, if at all, with a tidal wave of demand in an emergency. And because they generally cannot ethically be tested for efficacy in human clinical trials - to do so would necessitate exposure to anthrax, smallpox and the like - they present unique liability concerns.

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Threats (July 13, 2007)
BIO's comments on HHS' Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasure Implementation Plan.
Read the comments (174 KB PDF)

Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (October 10, 2006)
BIO's comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Read the comments

PROJECT BIOSHIELD II:

Testimony on Project BioShield Reauthorization Issues
Peter F. Young, President and CEO of AlphaVax, Inc., testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health (Apr. 6, 2006)
Read the testimony
Read the press release

BIO Statement on Project BioShield II
BIO statement for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and Committee on the Judiciary hearing on Project BioShield II (October 6, 2004).
Read the statement

PROJECT BIOSHIELD I:

BIO Fact Sheet
Project BioShield is a Step Forward in Securing the Nation's Common Defense (July 24, 2004).
Read the fact sheet

BIO Letter
Letter to Senators Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) thanking them for their leadership in passing S. 15, the Project BioShield Act of 2004 (May 24, 2004).
Read the letter

BIO Testimony
BIO Testimony Before The House Energy And Commerce Subcommittee On Health And The House Select Committee On Homeland Security Subcommittee On Emergency Preparedness And Response Regarding Project BioShield Act Of 2003 (Mar. 27, 2003).
Read the testimony

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE DEFENSE:

Bioterrorism: A Challenge We Cannot Decline to Meet
Carl B. Feldbaum, BIO President (Nov. 6, 2002).
Read the speech

Statement on Ethical Use of Biotechnology
To Promote Public Health and National Security and to Fight Against Bioterrorism (Nov. 5).
Read the statement

Biotechnology, Public Health, and National Security
How the industry can develop biodefense products (Oct. 24, 2002).
Read the statement

Biodefense Archive
Older materials on this subject are available in our archive.
Browse the Archive

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