Three Congressional Flu Hearings Planned For Next Week
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
The Senate Special Committee on Aging and the House Energy & Commerce and Government Reform Committees will hold hearings to discuss flu vaccine supply. FDA Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford and NIAID Director Anthony Fauci are expected to be among the witnesses.
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FDA Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford, PhD, and National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, MD, are expected to testify at three flu hearings on Capitol Hill next week. The House Government Reform Committee's hearing entitled "The Nation's Flu Shortage: Where Are We Today and How Prepared Are We for Tomorrow?" will convene Nov. 17 at 1:00 p.m. in room 2154 of the Rayburn building. In addition to Crawford and Fauci, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Director Julie Gerberding, MD, and Chiron CEO Howard Pien are scheduled to testify. Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) is currently in England meeting with U.K. regulators and representatives from MedImmune and Chiron concerning the U.S. flu vaccine supply. Chiron is in discussions with the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority to resolve the manufacturing problems at its Liverpool facility which led to the flu vaccine shortfall (1 (Also see "Chiron Fluvirin Remediation Plan Design Underway" - Pink Sheet, 21 Oct, 2004.)). The House Energy & Commerce Committee will meet Nov. 18 in room 2123 of the Rayburn building at 9:30 a.m. In addition, the Senate Special Committee on Aging plans to meet on Nov. 16. The meeting will be held in room 628 of the Dirksen building at 3 p.m. [Editor's note: The initial version of this story incorrectly stated that the Senate HELP Committee/Aging Subcommittee planned to hold a hearing on the flu vaccine shortage the week of Nov. 15.] A representative from flu vaccine manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis may also testify at the hearings. Aventis was awarded an HHS contract to ensure egg supply for vaccine manufacturing Nov. 9 (see 2 (Also see "HHS To Award Vaccine Cell-Culture Contract" - Pink Sheet, 10 Nov, 2004.) ). - Andrew Kasper |