Jostling over Pandemic Response

The success of an Obama administration initiative to map a strategy for protecting Americans from natural and manmade medical threats will depend in part on its ability to reconcile the contradictory perspectives of FDA and the companies expected to do the work.

The policy review, announced last week by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, will not be limited to pandemic flu vaccines, although that will be a major focus. Sebelius made it clear that successes and failures in developing and deploying pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine over the last eight months prompted the review (see BioCentury Extra, Tuesday, Dec. 1)...