Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

FDA approves new smallpox vaccine

Infection Control Monitor, September 7, 2007

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a second-generation smallpox vaccine on September 1 that could be used as protection against bioterrorist attacks.

The vaccine, called ACAM2000, is made by the British biotechnology company Acambis plc and is stockpiled by the U.S. government. The vaccine is "intended for the inoculation of people at high risk of exposure to smallpox and could be used to protect individuals and populations during a bioterrorist attack," the FDA said in a news release.

The FDA says the vaccine could be made quickly if smallpox, a highly contagious disease that is virtually eradicated, were to reappear, the Associated Press reported.

Most Popular