What is the status of the West Nile vaccine?
The data so far have knocked our socks off. Right now all we have is data from trials in monkeys. But the data look terrific. We’ll begin human trials probably in the first quarter of next year. Q: Can you tell me anything about the smallpox vaccine you’re developing for the federal government? A: We have a contract to deliver 209 million doses by the end of the year. That program is moving along well. There is somewhat of a gag order on the specifics about this, but I can say that the vaccine is made using modern methods. It’s a new vaccine but is derived from the old one. We are, in effect, purifying the vaccinia virus used in the 20th century. [The purification may eliminate some of the rare side effects of smallpox virus, such as fever.] The idea is to develop a vaccine that matches the old one in all of its clinical properties. That way, we can reasonably assume that it works because the old vaccine worked so well. But of course, there’s no way to test it. Smallpox doesn’t exist i
