BioPort Voluntarily Recalls Lot of Anthrax Vaccine, FDA Says
Washington, Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- BioPort Corp., the closely help [sic] company hired to provide the U.S. Department of Defense with anthrax vaccine, has recalled one lot of the vaccine, U.S. regulators said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on its Web site that the Lansing, Michigan-based company voluntarily recalled the vaccine because the labeled expiration date, Sept. 9, 2001, was more than seven months after the correct expiration date of Feb. 3, 2001.
The FDA also said BioPort is voluntarily recalling two other products because it can't assure those products are sterile.
The company couldn't be reached for comment late in the day.
The recall is the latest setback for BioPort and the U.S. military's anthrax-vaccine program. The company isn't now producing vaccine and won't resume production until its plant is certified by the FDA. That prompted the Pentagon to ration the vaccine to troops in high-risk areas.
The vaccine is protection against weapons carrying anthrax, the world's deadliest biological agent. The U.S. believes that weapon could be produced by North Korea, Iraq or Iran.
Sep/11/2000 19:31 ET
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For the FDA announcement of the recall of Bioport's anthrax vaccine see:
Voluntary Recall of Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed