Biological and Chemical Weapons
Additional Stock of Smallpox Vaccine Found in Pennsylvania Freezer
CBW Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 2 (August 2002)
French pharmaceutical conglomerate Aventis Pasteur, parent company of US-based Aventis, announced 15 May that it would donate its stock of approximately 75-90 million doses of smallpox vaccine to the US government. The stocks have an estimated commercial value of $150 million. Aventis is also producing a new cell-culture based smallpox vaccine, which it expects to release in Europe by the end of this year.
Produced around 1958, the donated doses have been stored in a freezer at Aventis’ Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, plant for about thirty years. Because of their age, the National Institutes of Health initiated a research study comparing their effectiveness to existing stocks. Preliminary tests indicated that they remain potent.
Aventis came close to destroying the vaccines. Because the smallpox threat had been thought long over, Aventis began consulting with the CDC in 1999 to develop protocols for destroying its vaccine stocks. After the September 11 attacks, however, the discussion shifted to the vaccines’ usefulness in the event of a bioterrorist attack. Due to the supply’s potential national security value, Aventis transferred it to a “secure location” in October 2001.