Biodefense tests
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Purchasing rapid, point-of-care tests for diagnosing bioterrorism agents such as anthrax, small pox and plague are among "mid-term" priorities of HHS' "public health medical countermeasures enterprise implementation plan," issued April 23 in the Federal Register. The agency plans to purchase up to $100 million worth of diagnostics from 2009-2013 using funds authorized by the Project BioShield Act of 2004, which allows the government to contract for emergency countermeasure products that would normally not have a market. Current BioShield funding is focused on vaccines for anthrax and small pox and treatments for radiation sickness...