[Paleopsych] Can you explain why this is a fraud?

[Steve Hovland]

Chiron wins big contract to make bird flu vaccine

EMERYVILLE FIRM GETS $62.5 MILLION, 2ND LARGEST AWARD

By Steve Johnson

Mercury News


Chiron won a $62.5 million federal contract Thursday to help produce a
vaccine to counter the threat of a bird-flu pandemic.

The contract is the second-largest award for bird-flu vaccines announced by
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Last month, the agency
awarded $100 million to Sanofi-Aventis of France.

Both contracts are for a vaccine aimed at defeating the virus' most virulent
strain, H5N1, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia. The victims are
believed to have contracted the flu virus from geese and other birds rather
than people. But health officials fear the virus might mutate into one that
can be transmitted from person to person, putting millions of lives at risk.

``An influenza vaccine effective against the H5N1 virus is our best hope of
protecting the American people from a virus for which they have no
immunity,'' said the agency's secretary, Mike Leavitt.

Chiron, a biotechnology company in Emeryville, has been one of the nation's
major developers of vaccine for seasonal flu and other illnesses, including
rabies, measles, polio and tick-borne encephalitis.

Vaccines are usually designed to protect people from getting infected.
Federal officials hope to stockpile enough vaccine for 20 million people.

For people who do become infected, some anti-viral treatments might help
minimize the severity of the illness. The government also wants to store
enough anti-viral medicine -- such as Tamiflu, developed by Gilead Sciences
of Foster City and produced by Roche -- to treat an additional 20 million
people.

Chiron will be expected to provide its vaccine early next year, said Health
and Human Services spokesman Bill Hall. He added that the precise number of
doses the company will provide isn't yet known. That will depend on how
strong the vaccine proves to be and whether it can be used with other drugs
to boost its effectiveness.