WASHINGTON, DC - Continuing its work on flu preparedness, House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders today sent a letter to Dr. Nicole Lurie, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, on the adequacy of the aging stockpile of pre-pandemic vaccines. The letter follows up on a Nov. 19, 2015, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing examining seasonal flu preparedness. At the hearing Dr. Robin Robinson, the Director of the Biological Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), testified that the agency had been testing stockpiled pandemic flu vaccines.
Full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), and subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) wrote Dr. Lurie requesting that BARDA share their test results. The leaders write, “We would be interested in the test results to determine whether the vaccines would provide protection against the circulating avian flu viruses which devastated U.S. poultry this year. These results would be helpful to the committee in understanding whether the vaccines are protective."
The leaders also highlight, “The national vaccine goals for pandemic influenza preparedness call for pre-pandemic vaccine stockpiles to protect 20 million people as well as for manufacturing infrastructure to support rapid production of 600 million doses. At a recent National Academies of Sciences workshop, one industry official noted the dynamic nature of the influenza threat and questioned the match of vaccine stockpiles that were purchased 10 years ago against today’s circulating strains. For example, the H5N1influenza emerging in Egypt in 2015 is not necessarily the H5N1 strain that emerged in Vietnam in 2004."
The leaders also express concern that “While vaccines for seasonal influenza change year-to-year, BARDA maintains a stockpile of roughly $1.75 billion worth of pandemic influenza vaccine. This year, however, BARDA has only budgeted about $20 million - or 1 percent of the stockpile value - for replenishment and maintenance of this asset."
The committee leaders are asking a series of questions including the results of testing BARDA has done on stockpiled pandemic vaccines, plans to update the aging stockpile, whether existing resources and funding levels are sufficient to maintain and replenish the stockpile, as well as an update on efforts to develop, manufacture, and test new vaccine candidates for newly prevalent strains.
Read the letter online here. See Also
* Letter to HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Nicole Lurie
