CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- August 8, 2008

FBI believes anthrax scientist killed with manipulated spores from Dugway lab
“Utah's Dugway Proving Ground produced one of two strains of anthrax that FBI investigators say was used in the September 2001 poison-letter campaign that killed five and injured 17. The federal investigation once again focuses attention on Utah's chemical and biological testing facility in Tooele County's west desert.” (The Salt Lake Tribune; 07Aug08; Christopher Smart)
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10136522

Leahy seeks motive in anthrax case
“Sen. Patrick Leahy says he wants to know the motivation of the man accused of mailing letters in 2001 that contained deadly anthrax spores. One of those letters was addressed to Leahy, who says he got off lucky. The Democratic senator says he hopes former Army scientist Bruce Ivins, who committed suicide last week, was the person responsible for sending the letter to his office.” (Google News; 07Aug08; Associated Press) http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYhtU_qZpfg5Dn4V3c6XTBMAhluAD92DLIBO0

Aiea lab tests pill-form treatment for anthrax
“A small Aiea pharmaceutical company says it's on track to create the first pill-form treatment for a lethal disease rated as a national-security threat. Oahu-based PanThera Biopharma has leveraged private investment dollars with several federal research grants over the past four years to develop a treatment for anthrax. The 15-employee company recently was awarded a $5 million federal grant from the National Institutes of Health, which company president and CEO Will Alameida says will help advance lab testing for the drug.” (Pacific Business News; 8August08; Nanea Kalani) http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/08/11/focus1.html

Ricin’s Deadly Action Revealed by Glowing Probes
“A new chemical probe can rapidly detect ricin, a deadly poison with no known antidote that is feared to be a potential weapon for terrorists and cannot quickly be identified with currently available tests. The probe, developed by chemists at UC San Diego, glows when bound to a ricin-damaged part of the body’s protein-making machinery, they report in the international edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie.” (Press Zoom;
07Aug08)
http://presszoom.com/story_145718.html

DORB: Academic Development Partners Begin Human Trial of RiVax(TM)
“DOR BioPharma, Inc. announced that one of its academic development partners has initiated a second human clinical trial of RiVax(TM) in healthy volunteers. RiVax is a recombinant subunit vaccine designed to induce protection against exposure to ricin toxin, a category B biothreat.” (Trading Markets; 7August08; Fain Hughes) http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1812017/

Universal Detection Technology Receives and Completes Contract to Provide Anthrax/Bioterrorism Detection Equipment for the 2008 Beijing Olympics
“Universal Detection Technology, a developer of early-warning monitoring technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services, reported today that it has received a contract to provide handheld assays for bioterrorism detection for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has fulfilled the contract by delivering the equipment to Beijing ahead of the Olympic Games. The handheld devices are designed to detect anthrax, ricin, botulinum toxin, plague and SEBs in as little as 3 Minutes.” (CNN Money; 06Aug08) http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0422121.htm

Alnylam biodefense deal renewed
“Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. has renewed a biodefense contract with the federal government. The Cambridge, Mass. company said Wednesday that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a component of the National Institutes of Health, has committed to $7.5 million of continued biodefense funding.” (Boston Business Journal; 06Aug08) http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/08/04/daily44.html

Programme on Chemical Weapons Convention
“The Indian Chemical Council (ICC), in association with the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, is organising an awareness programme on Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) at Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Saturday.” (Udayavani; 07Aug08)
http://68.178.224.54/udayavani/showstory.asp?news=0&contentid=560507&lang=1


CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.