Associated Press
SPOKANE — A Spokane pharmaceutical company is helping the U.S. military prepare for possible biological attack by terrorists.
Hollister-Stier, along with the nation’s only producer of anthrax vaccine, is ramping up efforts to stockpile it for use by U.S. troops.
Hollister-Stier was hired by BioPort of Lansing, Mich., to fill at least 40,000 vials of anthrax vaccine per month.
In May, BioPort started trucking vaccine made in Michigan to Hollister-Stier labs in north Spokane. The vaccine is processed into concentrated doses and placed in sterilized vials, which are shipped back to Michigan.
Hollister-Stier will add a second shift of six to 10 workers sometime early next year to handle the workload, as government officials urge BioPort to step up production.
Anthrax occurs naturally in livestock, mostly in underdeveloped countries. If inhaled, the bacterium that causes anthrax produces flulike symptoms such as fever, aches and fatigue.
Death occurs in about 98 percent of infected humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Government officials are concerned that terrorists might spread anthrax bacteria from an airplane over urban centers.
Along with the planned second shift, Hollister-Stier has added new security systems to ensure no one tampers with or steals the vaccine.
"We have taken extra steps in the area of security," said Anthony Bonanzino, company president and chief executive officer. "Obviously, we’re not going to say what those steps are."
Federal officials have said they’d like BioPort and Hollister-Stier to produce 2 million doses of vaccine per year. To meet that target, Hollister-Stier would need to quadruple its monthly output.
BioPort is the vaccine’s sole producer, said Jim Turner with the office of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in Washington, D.C.
"Making anthrax vaccine was a priority for us in 1997, and it’s just as big a priority now," said Turner.
In 1997, the federal government decided all active military personnel should receive the anthrax vaccine as a precaution. Those plans hit a snag in 1998 when BioPort, a private company that bought a facility formerly run by the state of Michigan, learned its labs couldn’t meet Food and Drug Administration quality standards.
BioPort has worked to bring its facilities into compliance. It is still manufacturing the vaccine while awaiting FDA approval — expected to cover the stockpiled vaccine retroactively.
FDA approval could come as soon as next spring, said BioPort spokesperson Kim Brennen Root.
BioPort and Hollister-Stier have both received calls from private citizens who want to buy the vaccine, but every dose they produce is for the U.S. military.
Bonanzino said the anthrax contract will produce about $1 million per year in revenue for the Spokane company, which employs 250 workers.
For the past 25 years, Hollister-Stier has been known primarily for producing allergenic products, such as anti-bee-sting kits.
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