Volume VII, Number 1 Sabin Vaccine Summer 2004 EPORT The newsletter of the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine InstituteR — dedicated to disease prevention www.sabin.org SVI Celebrates DNA Pioneer James Watson and Biotech Leader Chiron At Awards Gala Event in New York City Emceed by CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer The Sabin Vaccine Institute celebrated a Salute to Life Saving Discoveries during its annual benefit dinner at The Pierre Hotel in New York City May 12, 2004. The evening fea- tured the presentation of awards to Nobel laureate James D. Watson, PhD, and to Howard Pien, president and CEO of Chiron Corporation. “This was an enlightening evening of celebration dedicated to the landmark discoveries that have so greatly en- hanced our understanding of biological science,” said Sabin Chairman H.R. Shepherd. “Dr. Watson’s work has opened wide the fields of biological sci- ence. Products and discoveries from At the Sabin Vaccine Institute Annual Awards Celebration are, from left, emcee Bob Schieffer, CBS News our colleagues2004 at Chiron Corporation Chief Washington Political Correspondent; Howard Pien, Chiron President and Chief Executive Officer; have protected millions from life-threat- Sabin Institute Chairman H.R. Shepherd; and genomics pioneer James D. Watson. ening illnesses, and the company un- derlines this impact with a generous Sabin Board Names New Institute President spiritSabin of corporate philanthropy, most notably demonstrated by its donations Dean D. Mason Appointed President and CEO of polio vaccine to support global eradi- The Board of Trustees of the Albert annual budget of more than $1 billion. cation efforts.” B. Sabin Vaccine Institute announced His role has been to establish terms and AwardsContinued on page 9 the appointment of Dean D. Mason as conditions for the negotiation of CDC’s its new president and chief executive pediatric and adult vaccine contracts, I nside officer. The appointment was effective which make up more than half of the ViewPoint ....................................................2 April 7, 2004. “We look forward to Mr. national market share. He has been re- President’s Message .....................................3 Mason’s leadership of the Institute at this sponsible for all Vaccines for Children Cancer Vaccine Consortium News................4 important time in the organization’s evo- (VFC) and 317 grant vaccine awards Hookworm Program Review ....................... 6 lution,” said Board chairman H.R. Shep- to immunization projects around the Book Review: Vaccines .............................10 herd. country. He also has overseen monitor- Sabin Institute Relocates ...........................14 At the U.S. Centers for Disease Con- ing and reporting of the nation’s vaccine Walter Orenstein Joins Sabin Board ..........15 trol and Prevention (CDC) since 1974, supply, including aspects of vaccine or- Calendar ...................................................16 Mason served in local and state health dering, storage and distribution for all departments and the National Immuni- vaccines purchased by the states through 2004 Sabin Gold Medal Awarded zation Program (NIP). As chief of the CDC contracts. Further, he has taken to William S. Jordan, Jr., MD, p 7. Program Support Branch of the NIP for the lead in planning and development of the past ten years, Mason managed an the nation’s pediatric vaccine stockpiles. Continued on page 3 2 SUMMER 2004 SABIN VACCINE REPORT The Sabin Vaccine Report VIEW is published by the POINT Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute Subscriptions are free Polio Vaccine’s Successful Debut 50 Years Ago Please direct inquiries to: Spurred Advances That Saved Millions of Lives SABIN VACCINE REPORT —by Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD and H.R. Shepherd, DSc 161 Cherry Street New Canaan, CT 06840-4818 THIS OPINION COINCIDES WITH THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF phone: 203.972.7907/fax: 203.966.4763 THE FIRST POLIO VACCINE TRIALS IN 1954 www.sabin.org email: [email protected] This spring there’s been a global thanksgiving in both developed and developing nations EDITOR about an event that took place in an affluent Washington suburb fifty years ago. Raymond MacDougall The event was the vaccination of six-year-old Randy Kerr from McLean, Virginia with an ASSOCIATE EDITOR COPY EDITOR Veronica Korn David Bedell experimental polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk in his University of Pittsburgh laboratory. OFFICERS OF THE SVI BOARD OF TRUSTEES That polio vaccination eventually led to the virtual eradication of one of the world’s most H. R. Shepherd, DSc, Chairman dread diseases and saved millions of lives in the process—a large majority of them in the William R. Berkley, Co-Chairman poor nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Michael E. Whitham, Esq., Secretary/ In the months following young Randy’s vaccination, thousands of other American children Treasurer who became known as “Polio Pioneers” stepped up to receive their polio injections as part SVI STAFF Dean D. Mason, President/CEO of an enormous vaccine field trial. Fran G. Sonkin, Executive Vice President Within a year, the data from this extraordinary trial were collected and tabulated and it Paul J. Vilk, RPh, RAC, Vice President, became obvious that the polio vaccine was a success. Parents all over the world started to Program Management and Regulatory breathe a sigh of relief that their children would not die or become permanently paralyzed Affairs, Hookworm Vaccine Initiative from annual summer polio epidemics that had killed and crippled so many. Nathan Tinker, PhD, Executive Director, Cancer Vaccine Consortium The Salk vaccine was just the first in a string of new vaccines against the great virus infections Ciro de Quadros, MD, MPH, Director, of humankind that were developed over the next two decades. These new vaccines came International Programs about largely because of earlier efforts by John Enders and his colleagues at Harvard Medical David Bedell, Director, Educational Programs School who had discovered a way to culture disease-causing viruses in the laboratory. The Raymond MacDougall, Director of legacy of these viral vaccines is a story of epic proportions. Communications For instance, widespread use of the measles vaccine, first developed by Enders, Tom Ana Carvalho, Assistant to the Director, Peebles and Sam Katz in the 1960s, began with the start of the World Health Organization’s International Programs Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 1974 when measles was the planet’s single Ellen Clerc, Assistant to the President/ CEO greatest childhood killer responsible for 7 million deaths annually. Through the EPI the Veronica Korn, Research Associate number of annual measles deaths has now been reduced ten-fold to less than 800,000 Christel Lane, Receptionist/Staff Assistant deaths annually. The number of lives saved through the EPI’s measles vaccination program Vanessa Santiago, Assistant to the was recently estimated to be equivalent to the number of lives lost in all wars during the 20th Executive Vice President Evan Sonkin, Information Coordinator century. Putting it in those terms, one could say that the measles vaccine became our first Jean-Serge Valcourt, Accounting weapon of mass peace! SVI ADVISORS Another extraordinary achievement was a second generation polio vaccine developed by Philip K. Russell, MD, Senior Advisor to Dr. Albert Sabin. Employing live-attenuated virus strains that could be administered orally, the Chairman rather than using killed virus administered by the Salk injections, the Sabin vaccine gained Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, Senior Fellow favor worldwide. & Chair, Scientific Advisory Council Few of us realize that the Sabin vaccine was licensed in the U.S. only after it was first tested Anne Gershon, MD, Co-chair, Scientific Advisory Council in tens of millions of Soviet schoolchildren during the late 1950s shortly after the launch of Hugh E. Evans, MD, Sabin Fellow Sputnik. This came about through a little-known but remarkable piece of back-channel William Muraskin, PhD, Sabin Fellow diplomacy between the Eisenhower Administration and the Communist regime in Moscow. Patricia Thomas, Sabin Fellow Today, through widespread use of the Sabin vaccine, polio has been eradicated in all but Nancy Gardner Hargrave, Development Counsel six nations. They are Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan, and Botswana. However, Continued on page 16 dedicated to disease prevention www.sabin.org 3 Entering an Exciting New Era in Which Vaccines Hold Great Promise Message from the President On April 7, 2004, I began work with the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine social policy, and some are leaders whose Institute (SVI) as the President and Chief Executive Officer. I am generosity provides the needed resources for indebted to the Chair, Co-chair, and Board of Trustees for giving me unlocking vaccines’ vast potential. this opportunity to contribute to the legacy of Dr. Sabin. His global During my tenure at SVI I hope we can build vision is easy to understand: we can and must save and improve on past relationships and forge new ones. This people’s lives through research, development, promotion and delivery is an exciting era in which new and improved of vaccines. vaccines and new technologies for shipping, SVI is committed to partnering with industry, government, and other storing and administering vaccines hold great Dean D. Mason advocacy groups; with philanthropic organizations; and with countries promise. I greatly look forward to working with globally to help realize the goal of enabling