Pharmathene is one of a smattering of small and undercapitalized biotechnology outfits trying to develop either vaccines or antidotes for anthrax, which remains, in the opinion of a lot of experts, the most likely weapon to be used against the U.S. in a bioterror attack. The threat of biological attack is considered so serious that President George W. Bush in late July signed Project Bioshield, creating a $5.6 billion fund to stockpile treatments for smallpox, botulism and anthrax over ten years, without the need for approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. This fall, Washington will start to free up hundreds of millions of dollars to stockpile anthrax antidotes and $1.4 billion to buy vaccine doses.
