Please wait while the transcript is being prepared...
0:00
Hello, and welcome to this course
on Biodefense and Special Pathogens,
Vaccines in Development.
My name is Dr. Gerry Kovacs,
and I am the scientific director
for Advanced BioScience
Laboratories,
a wholly owned subsidiary
of the Institute Merieux.
Formerly I was the director of the
chemical, biological, radiological,
and nuclear medical
countermeasures program
at BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced
Research and Development Authority
within the US Department of
Health and Human Services.
At BARDA, I was responsible for
the development of vaccines, drugs,
and diagnostics against
the highest priority
threat agents that
may impact the health
security of the United States.
0:38
We will start by looking back
at the history of bioterrorism.
This is defined as the intentional
release or dissemination
of biological agents, these
are viruses, bacteria, toxins,
or other harmful agents,
in order to inflict
pain, suffering, and death in
people, animals, and plants.
What we find is that bioterrorism
is not a novel warfare idea,
but rather has been
used for millennia.
We will then define bioterrorism
agents, how we categorize them
according to the severity
of disease they cause,
and how the US government
has prioritized
which agents pose the greatest
threat to public health.
We will also discuss the
different types of vaccines
manufacturers are developing
for the myriad bioterrorism
agents identified to date.
Biodefense vaccines also pose
unique challenges to manufacturers.
The fact that many of
these infectious agents
do not circulate in nature
poses challenges regarding
the testing of their efficacy.
We will review some of
the ways the Food and Drug
Administration has
aided in the development
of these types of products.
We will also review what biodefense
vaccines have been licensed,
and enumerate those that
are still in development.
For the purpose of
this lecture, I also
feel it is important
to highlight three case
studies on biodefense vaccines.
These will be smallpox,
anthrax, and Ebola.
All three of these
vaccines have posed
unique challenges to manufacturers.
Lastly, we will end with a
few reflections on the future
of biodefense vaccines.
