VaxGen officials said they sought advance payment three times in 2005 and 2006: twice in discussions with HHS and once in writing. Hall, the health department spokesman, said any consideration of such payments "became moot" because of VaxGen's lack of progress.
Emergent executives knew well the problems inherent in developing and manufacturing vaccines. The state facilities they acquired in Lansing, Mich., had been beset with problems. In 1999 and 2000, inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration found deficiencies in the company's vaccine, including problems with stability, potency and purity.
The company pledged to rectify the inadequacies -- and the government stuck with it as the sole supplier of anthrax vaccine to the military.
Now, as Emergent sought to neutralize the competitive threat from VaxGen, it added to its lobbying team John V. Hishta, who had deep ties to the Republican congressional leadership.
Hishta was chief of staff to Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) and has continued to serve him as a campaign advisor. Hishta also directed national efforts to elect Republicans to the House from 2000 through 2002.
In July 2005, he arranged for an Emergent executive to appear before the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, which was chaired by Davis.
In his opening statement, Davis voiced "concern" that federal officials had "made insufficient efforts to stockpile existing countermeasures while new and improved ones are being developed."
The Emergent executive, Robert G. Kramer, told the committee that health officials were undermining national security by contracting for VaxGen's product instead of buying more of Emergent's.
"HHS has staked the nation's protection against the No. 1 biologic threat on an experimental product," Kramer said.
Kramer emphasized that Emergent would reassess whether to keep making the anthrax vaccine. The company, he said, "finds itself at a critical juncture in terms of its ability and willingness to commit resources to a product that lacks a committed customer."
Representatives of VaxGen were not invited to appear.
Asked about his role, Hishta said, "I don't want to comment on my lobbying work."
Davis did not respond to questions submitted through an aide.
Another key lobbyist for Emergent was Todd A. Boulanger, who had served as an aide to Republican members of Congress. Boulanger helped shape a letter by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) to Thompson's successor as HHS secretary, pressing him to explain why his department had not purchased more anthrax vaccine from Emergent.
