WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- The Department of Health and Human Services said Friday it has bought 10,000 doses of Anthrax Immune Globulin from Canada firm Cangene.
The purchase -- totaling nearly $144,000 -- was based on a modified contract first awarded last September to Cangene, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The first deliveries of the drug are anticipated next year, HHS said.
Under the deal, full payment to Cangene is conditioned on the final approval of the drug by the Food and Drug Administration, but the product will still be available in the United States for emergency purposes in the meantime, the agency said.
"Our first line of defense against anthrax is antibiotics," said Craig Vanderwagen, HHS assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness. "While additional studies are underway to determine its efficacy and ultimate role in treatment, AIG may have the potential to provide physicians with a source of human antibodies against the anthrax toxin that could improve the management of patients with the life-threatening toxemia associated with severe anthrax."
Although antibiotics are effective against anthrax, there is still a significant mortality risk from the inhaled form of the bacteria, HHS said.
