Want to guess who’s paying for new vaccine development?

Welcome to the Renaissance

When I was a little girl, I loved visiting my great-grandmother and my great aunt in Miami Beach. But the beautiful old art deco hotels were kind of sad – already in tatters or closed down. The heyday had come and gone.

But 10 years later, everything exploded. Miami Vice made the old resort look hip again. The hotels were renovated, and a booming nightlife pumped in millions of dollars.

That’s sort of what happened to vaccine makers.

Ten years ago, vaccine manufacturing was a sleepy backwater of the high-rolling drug industry. You could make a living, but you couldn’t make a killing. Blockbuster drugs like Lipitor and Prozac were the way to go.

But all that changed. The blockbusters have become (or will soon become) generics. New blockbusters are not in the pipeline. Meanwhile, you’re lucky if you can make it from your front door to your car without getting vaccinated.

Say hello to the 2009 vaccine boom.

So far this century the vaccination market has tripled, generating billions of dollars. Reuters Health calls it a “renaissance of vaccine development.”

And I’m sure you’ll be as delighted as I was to learn that our tax dollars are helping make this renaissance possible.

Piggyback rides

“I’m entirely against using a vaccine to prevent something the body can (and should!) fight off on its own.”

That’s HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., digging in and taking his stand against vaccine mania.

In an article that appears on HealthierTalk.com, Dr. Spreen explains why a vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections is pointless (unless you want to make a boatload of money). To illustrate, Dr. Spreen shares five simple steps that will sidetrack UTIs. No drugs or vaccines necessary.

But vaccinating against UTIs is just one small blast in the vaccine boom.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told Reuters Health that her agency hopes to “piggyback on the frenetic investment by drug companies in vaccine development.”

And guess who gets to pay for the piggyback rides?

Last month, NIDA (part of the National Institutes of Health) awarded a $10 million grant for a clinical trial of a vaccine that’s supposed to sidetrack the addictive effects of nicotine.

Or…instead of devoting millions of tax dollars to a vaccine that will make millions in profits for a drug company, NIDA could just advise smokers to try a botanical treatment called Plantago Major.

Way back in 2000, we told you in your Members’ Alert how Plantago Major prompts a natural aversion to tobacco. In the early 90s, the doctor who researched this effect created a product called CIG-NO. Just spray CIG-NO under the tongue and cigarette cravings are significantly reduced.

You can do that now. No need to wait for an expensive vaccine.

But that $10 million? Yeah…we won’t be getting that back. That’s our donation to the renaissance.

Sources:
“A Vaccine for Urinary Tract Infections? Too Far!” Allan Spreen, M.D., Healthier Talk, 10/20/09, healthiertalk.com
“U.S. Backs Vaccines for Drug, Nicotine Addiction” Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters Health, 10/21/09, reutershealth.com
“Global Immunizations Hit Record but Miss Millions” Reuters Health, 10/21/09, reutershealth.com