Alliance for Biosecurity Testifies Before Congress on Funding for Medical Countermeasure Development

	
		    WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- David P. Wright,
Co-Chair of the Alliance for Biosecurity and Chairman and CEO of
PharmAthene, Inc., testified today before the House Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee on the critical
importance of developing drugs, vaccines and other medical countermeasures
needed to protect Americans from bioterrorism and other catastrophic health
emergencies. Effective medical countermeasures for many of the chemical,
biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents that pose the greatest
threat to the United States do not currently exist, and Wright argued that
the federal government should take a more active role in supporting their
development to bolster the nation's biosecurity.

    "Protecting our nation against bioterror threats is no less important
than ensuring that we have the tools necessary to fortify and protect our
military," Wright noted, but "funding for the development of CBRN
countermeasures, particularly in the area of advanced development, has been
woefully inadequate." Wright stated that "without adequate funding,
promising countermeasures will not be developed and the nation will remain
vulnerable to a bioterror attack - and make no mistake, a bioterror attack
is a real and credible threat."

    New drug development is an extraordinarily time consuming and
resource-intensive process that requires 10-15 years and approximately $800
million from start to finish for one product. To help accelerate the
development of needed medical countermeasures, the Alliance recommended
that Congress provide $1.7 billion in FY 2010 to support the advanced
research and development of biodefense countermeasures. The principle
agency responsible for these activities is the Biomedical Advanced Research
and Development Authority (BARDA) within HHS. Wright observed that when
Congress created BARDA in 2006 it authorized $1.07 billion specifically for
this purpose, but to date it has provided less than half of this amount.
Wright highlighted several promising vaccines and therapies that could
benefit from increased funding and noted that each new biotech job results
in the creation of 5.8 additional jobs in other industries. "Increased
funding would advance the day when our nation has access to these critical
countermeasures," Wright stated, but "until that day arrives, the American
people remain at risk."

    About the Alliance for Biosecurity

    The Alliance for Biosecurity was formed in June of 2005 by
biopharmaceutical companies and the Center for Biosecurity of the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Alliance members are committed to
partnering with government and promoting a new era in the prevention and
treatment of severe infectious diseases - particularly those that present
global security challenges - through innovative and accelerated research,
development and production of countermeasures. Company members of the
Alliance include: Bavarian-Nordic, Cangene Corporation, DOR BioPharma,
Inc., Dynport Vaccine Company LLC, a CSC Company, Elusys Therapeutics,
Emergent BioSolutions, Hematech, Inc., a subsidiary of Kyowa Kirin, Human
Genome Sciences, Inc., NanoViricides, Inc., Pfizer Inc., PharmAthene, Siga
Technologies, and Unither Virology LLC, a subsidiary of United
Therapeutics.