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A series of e-mail exchanges between officials at the Department of Health and Human Services shows growing alarm at the amount of projected profit from a government contract for a drug company whose controlling shareholder is a longtime Democratic Party activist. Ronald Perelman is controlling shareholder of Siga Technologies and a longtime Democratic Party activist and fundraiser. He's also a large contributor to Republicans, but has been a particular friend of the Obama White House. Also on Siga's board of directors is Andy Stern, former president of the Service Employees International Union, who has had close relations with the Obama...

<p>Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has officially called on the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general to investigate a suspicious $433 million no-bid contract for a dubious smallpox vaccine.</p> <p>Frankly, just about everything connected with this one smells.</p> <p>The contract was awarded to Siga Technologies, a New York-based company whose principal investor is megabillionaire — and key Democratic moneyman — Ron Perelman.</p>

Bavarian Nordic wins freeze-dried Imvamune contract from US government 20 November, 2009 The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the US has awarded a US$40m contract to Bavarian Nordic of Denmark to develop a freeze-dried version of its Imvamune smallpox vaccine. The funds will be used to validate the freeze-dried manufacturing process and the associated pre-clinical and clinical studies to support the development of this version of the vaccine. The funding represents 33% of the total contract value, followed by four additional years of optional funding, which will be triggered by the completion of pre-determined technical milestones. The...

There are many who argue that President Obama has (repeatedly) broken his promise to bring transparency and openness to the White House. In literal terms, however, Obama may not have actually broken that specific promise ,.. it’s just that people may not have understood what Obama meant by transparency and openness. ..Here’s a case in point: First Dot: Several months ago, the union world was shocked when Andy Stern, the ignominious president of the Service Employees International Union abruptly “quit” as leader of the Purple Hand. Surprise and speculation swelled. Was it the Blago Trial? Is he sick?Second Dot: Then,...

There's Something Fishy About The White House's $433 Million Investment In A Smallpox Vaccine Becket Adams, The Blaze Nov. 15, 2011, 12:21[Editor's note: smallpox is indeed a horrifying and terrible disease; this cannot be overstated. It is not the intent of this article to mitigate the very real and terrible nature of the disease. The point of this article is to question the White Houses’ intentions in this deal.] Several critics believe that the Obama administration’s $433 million investment in the new ST-246 smallpox vaccine reeks of scandal. How could a multimillion dollar investment in an antiviral pill that could...

Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, has asked The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review the Obama administration’s award of a $443 million sole-source contract to a company owned by a major Democratic donor. The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the Obama administration has taken unusual steps to procure an experimental smallpox vaccine from a company owned by a major Democratic donor despite concerns from some experts that such a drug was unnecessary and would not be effective. Citing “serious questions” about the contract, the Los Angeles Times reported that McCaskill has asked the...

David Williams of The Los Angeles Times has uncovered a $433 million dollar government contract to purchase a smallpox anti-viral drug that may, or may not, be necessary in the case of a bioterrorist attack. For that matter, we are not even sure if the drug will work. ST-246, a pill to be manufactured by Siga Technologies, Inc., would come into play as a second level of defense in the event of a smallpox attack. Currently, the nation has stockpiled some $1 billion in smallpox vaccines, enough to inoculate the entire U.S. population and treat those who have contracted the...

BIOLOGICAL WAR-FEAR Smallpox vaccine usesfetal cell line Some Americans may refuse shot, worsening potential outbreak By Jon Dougherty &copy;&nbsp;2001&nbsp;WorldNetDaily.com A company that would use a stem-cell line from an aborted fetus to manufacture a new smallpox vaccine is one of only a few firms being considered for a major new government contract despite concerns that the use of such tissues could lead many people to refuse the shots, thereby worsening any outbreak. The company, Acambis PLC of England, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, has already been contracted by the federal government to ...

ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA -- Smallpox shots may have triggered a painful heart inflammation in a very small number of emergency workers vaccinated after Sept. 11, researchers say. A study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association showed a higher rate of heart inflammation cases than ever documented before in people who got smallpox vaccinations. "I think that was completely not anticipated," said Dr. Inger Damon, an author of the study. Overall, however, the vaccine appears to carry an extremely small risk of serious side effects, researchers reported after looking at nearly 700,000 civilians and soldiers who received vaccinations after...

<p>The CIA yesterday concluded that two truck trailers seized by coalition forces in northern Iraq were designed by Saddam Hussein's regime to produce biological weapons agents.</p> <p>A six-page agency white paper said an examination of the trailers' equipment showed that "BW [biological weapons] agent production is the only consistent, logical purpose for these vehicles."</p>

Researchers at the U. S. Army laboratories at Fort Detrick in Frederick reported a major advance yesterday in the search for a safer smallpox vaccine. An experimental vaccine made from pieces of the live virus currently used as a smallpox vaccine protected monkeys against monkeypox, their version of the fatal illness. The protection was not absolute -- the animals got mildly ill and developed the characteristic pox rash -- but it was good enough to keep them from dying. The federal government currently vaccinates many members of the military against smallpox, a disease that was eradicated 26 years ago but...

<p>President Bush said Wednesday he will make the smallpox vaccine available to all Americans on a voluntary basis to guard against a bioterrorist attack.</p> <p>As a first step, the president will order military personnel to begin getting smallpox vaccinations and will launch a plan to offer the vaccine to emergency medical workers and response teams within weeks, senior administration officials said.</p>

THE VACCINE REACTION “When it happens to you or your child, the risks are 100%” Published by the National Vaccine Information Center Barbara Loe Fisher, Editor      Special Report                                                   Winter 2002                           SMALLPOX AND FORCED VACCINATION:   WHAT EVERY AMERICAN NEEDS TO KNOW  In this time of great sadness, fear and confusion,   Americans have a choice to make: either we defend the individual freedoms  our forefathers fought and died to give us,    or we sacrifice those freedoms and let the terrorists win.    What we choose to do will define who we are as a nation...

Up to 90 million doses of smallpox vaccine have been discovered in a U.S.-based storage facility run by a French pharmaceutical company, in a find that instantly increases the nation's ability to combat the deadly disease six-fold. The vaccine stockpile, reported by the Washington Post Thursday, was produced by Aventis Pasteur of Lyon, France, which has its U.S. operations in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. "It's a great insurance policy," D.A. Henderson, director of the newly created federal Office of Health Preparedness, told the Post. The tens of millions of doses of the anti-smallpox agent were reportedly manufactured decades ago, but it was...