Senate Approves $109B Supplemental Spending Bill With More Than $2B in Pandemic Flu Preparedness Funding

The Senate on Thursday approved a $108.9 billion FY 2006 emergency supplemental spending bill (HR 4939) that includes funding for pandemic flu planning, CongressDaily reports. The bill includes $2.6 billion to prepare for a potential pandemic flu outbreak and create a compensation fund for victims of experimental vaccines and other products designed to combat possible pandemics. According to CongressDaily, "[s]wift agreement" on the bill with the House "will prove difficult." President Bush has threatened to veto the measure if it costs more than $94.5 billion (Cohn, CongressDaily, 5/4). According to the Boston Globe, the bill includes "a raft of special-interest provisions for farmers, fishermen and a major defense contractor, among many others" (Klein, Boston Globe, 5/5). House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, "The House will not take up an emergency supplemental spending bill ... that spends one dollar more than what the president asked for. Period" (Hurt/Fagan, Washington Times, 5/5). Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said there will be "tremendous pressure" in conference to reduce the bill's price tag (CongressDaily, 5/4). House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said the Senate bill would be "dead on arrival" (Washington Times, 5/5).

Contracts Awarded
In related news, HHS on Thursday awarded more than $1 billion in contracts to continue development of cell-based methods for manufacturing flu vaccines, the Wall Street Journal reports. Using funding allocated from the $3.3 billion Congress approved for pandemic flu planning for the current fiscal year, HHS awarded five-year contracts to Solvay Pharmaceuticals, for $298.59 million; GlaxoSmithKline for $274.75 million; Novartis for $220.51; and MedImmune for $169.46 million. DynPort Vaccine was awarded a $40.97 contract through July 31, 2007 to develop the technology for the cell-based technique in collaboration with Baxter International. The DynPort-Baxter contract could be valued at $242.5 million over five years if the government continues to fund it after July 2007 (Corbett Dooren, Wall Street Journal, 5/5). The companies will manufacture vaccines that protect against both seasonal flu and a pandemic flu (Reuters/Los Angeles Times, 5/5).

Editorials
Two newspapers on Friday published editorials addressing avian flu. Summaries appear below.

• New York Times: "The more the federal government tells us how to prepare for a possible avian flu pandemic, the more apparent it becomes that we won't be prepared anytime soon," a Times editorial states. The editorial says, "What troubles us most is what looks like a less-than-urgent push to develop a new vaccine production capacity that can quickly respond to an emergency," adding that the Bush administration's "primary goal -- to expand and modernize domestic production capacity to make enough vaccine for all American within six months -- seems as distant as ever." The editorial adds the "target" date for increased production capacity is "five years away," and "Congress needs to look hard to see whether a more aggressive effort might convert the industry more quickly" (New York Times, 5/5).
  


• USA Today: Addressing ABC's upcoming made-for-TV movie "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America," a USA Today editorial says, "Avian flu is worthy of concern and preparation, but the H5N1 virus will have to jump several major hurdles before it becomes a pandemic and travels to U.S. shores," and "a doomsday scenario is highly unlikely." The editorial concludes, "Perhaps ABC's movie will help by raising awareness, as long as the public doesn't confuse it with fact" (USA Today, 5/5).