Defense bill seeks funding for UAB's anthrax research

by Michael Brumas

Birmingham (AL) News

May 11, 2000

WASHINGTON The 2001 defense bill approved Wednesday by the Senate Armed Services Committee directs the Pentagon, in effect, to fund an anti-anthrax drug program under development at UAB [University of Alabama at Birmingham].

Language included in the bill by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., doesn't mention the University of Alabama at Birmingham by name, but Sessions spokesman John Cox said it was written exclusively with UAB in mind.

"The only research program currently pursuing an alternative to the anthrax vaccine is the UAB program," Cox said.

The Pentagon considers anthrax, a virulent disease that causes death within a few days, among the greatest biological weapons threats to U.S. forces. It is a naturally occurring bacteria found in domesticated animals.

An anthrax vaccine exists, but it has become controversial in Congress and among some troops, who question whether the shots are safe.

UAB researchers are working to create a pill that not only would prevent anthrax spores from germinating into the lethal organism, but would kill the bacteria after exposure.

"We are determined to make sure that the Defense Department promptly examines this drug therapy," said Sessions, a member of the armed services panel. "If it's feasible, they need to move with great haste to bring it on-line because it has tremendous potential. I'm not a scientist but I've been convinced that it has a high chance of success."

The House of Representatives also would have to approve the anthrax language and President Clinton would have to sign the defense bill before it would become effective.

The head of the UAB research team, Larry DeLucas, director of the UAB Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering, recently said the new-generation antibiotic may eventually be used as an alternative to the anthrax vaccine.

DeLucas said a three-year, $6.5 million Army research grant has run out. He said the project needs an additional $14 million, which would pay for further development and pre-clinical testing required for Food and Drug Administration approval.

DeLucas said his team is moving toward a drug candidate that should be ready to begin testing in humans within two years.

Although anthrax has never been used in combat, the Pentagon fears Iraq, North Korea and other countries as well as terrorist groups might try.

Defense Secretary William Cohen has ordered all 2.4 million active duty and reserve troops to get anthrax vaccines, and so far 422,000 service members have been immunized.

But some servicemen have reported side effects, such as fevers, muscle pain, soreness and dizziness, prompting several hundred refusals to take the six-shot vaccine regimen and annual booster.

The Pentagon has consistently argued that the vaccine is safe and effective and is the only known way to prevent rapid deaths in troops who inhale anthrax spores.

Bioport Corp. of Lansing, Mich., the military's only maker of anthrax vaccine, has been shut down for 17 months and is not expected to win government approval to produce more vaccine until late this year, according to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

"This (UAB antibiotic) could be superior to any vaccine," Sessions said. "It can be analyzed within two to three years. It could be cheaper and it could avoid the morale problems that are occurring with the vaccine."