Another Bushco success in the war on terror....

[theHandpuppet]

From the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/us/20anthrax.html?hp&ex=1166677200&en=a1b7ba76aebb42f2&ei=5094&partner=homepage

U.S. Cancels Order for 75 Million Doses of Anthrax Vaccine
By ERIC LIPTON
Published: December 20, 2006

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 — In a major setback to the Bush administration’s biodefense efforts, the government announced Tuesday that it had canceled an order for 75 million doses of a new anthrax vaccine, the single biggest purchase planned for the nation’s antiterror drug stockpile.

Since VaxGen of Brisbane, Calif., won the contract two years ago, skeptics have questioned the ability of the company, a small biotechnology business, to deliver on such a large order, as well as the administration’s capacity to properly manage the overall $5.6 billion program, known as BioShield.

VaxGen, which has no other major customers and has never made a successful vaccine or drug, was supposed to deliver enough vaccine to inoculate 25 million Americans after an anthrax attack, each with three doses.

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services terminated the $877 million contract Tuesday after VaxGen failed to start required clinical trials, a delay caused by troubles with the vaccine formula.... MORE

If ineptitude were a virtue this administration would have achieved sainthood by now.

[magellan]

1. In case anyone wonders why VaxGen got the contract in the first place

VaxGen received the anthrax-vaccine contract two years ago, in spite of the fact that the decade-old firm had produced no marketable products, had demonstrated disturbing ethical failures in the area of human-subject drug testing, and had been delisted by Nasdaq because of accounting irregularities. An earlier, similarly hyped-up effort to develop an AIDS vaccine—for which the company received millions from the National Institutes for Health—ended in total failure and led to a number of lawsuits by investors who charged that VaxGen had fraudulently hyped the vaccine's prospects for success.

VaxGen's competitors suspected that the firm, in winning the anthrax contract, may have received a helping hand from Dr. Phil Russell, formerly a top contracting official at HHS who was involved in the BioShield project. Forbes describes Russell as a “long time acquaintance” of VaxGen CEO Lance Gordon; Russell, for his part, has denied that he helped out VaxGen.

more...http://www.harpers.org/sb-flaws-in-th-1165951296.html

IOW the usual BushCo Repug cronyism led to VaxGen being awarded this contract, at the expense of the rest of us. God forbid any of the people and businesses BushCo hire to perform a service, using our tax money, should have any experience in the specified area!!

[theHandpuppet]

2. Cronyism: Git yer job at Homeland Security here!

Yes, it's a sham. We've seen over and over how these contracts and jobs are awarded. No experience necessary! Just cozy ties to BushCo.