Government Response
Clinton Administration
- 1996: Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act; $160 MM for biological terrorism preparedness
- 1998: Presidential Directive 62, the “Combating Terrorism Directive” created White House office
- 2000: CDC awards $343 MM contract for smallpox vaccine, expanded to > $700 MM in 2002
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Growing awareness of threat, post-9/11, a major funding effort
- Project Bioshield: $ 5.6 Billion in funding over 10 years
- 2003 federal budget includes more than $1.5 billion in new biodefense funding for NIH, 5x more than the previous year
- DOD’s - DARPA 2003 budget: $133 million for R&D in antiviral and antibacterial therapeutics, diagnostics, and sensors
- NIAID: 20 to 40 grants totaling $100 million to cooperative partnerships for developing vaccines, adjuvants, therapeutic agents, and diagnostic agents. $300 MM funding for National and Regional Biosafety Laboratories. Contracts for recombinant anthrax vaccines > $175 MM.