More Failures in the War on Terra

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 — In a major setback to the Bush administration’s biodefense efforts, the government announced Tuesday that it had canceled an order for 75 million doses of a new anthrax vaccine, the single biggest purchase planned for the nation’s antiterror drug stockpile.

Since VaxGen of Brisbane, Calif., won the contract two years ago, skeptics have questioned the ability of the company, a small biotechnology business, to deliver on such a large order, as well as the administration’s capacity to properly manage the overall $5.6 billion program, known as BioShield.

VaxGen, which has no other major customers and has never made a successful vaccine or drug, was supposed to deliver enough vaccine to inoculate 25 million Americans after an anthrax attack, each with three doses.

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services terminated the $877 million contract Tuesday after VaxGen failed to start required clinical trials, a delay caused by troubles with the vaccine formula.