Second-generation smallpox vaccine

Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, Nov, 2007 by Marissa Heller

The FDA recently granted approval for a second-generation smallpox vaccine, ACAM2000. This vaccine is approved for the vaccination of people at high risk for exposure to smallpox and could be used in at-risk populations during a bioter-rorist attack. The last case of naturally occurring smallpox in the US was reported in 1949 and smallpox vaccination in the US ended in 1972. However, in 1999 the US military began vaccinating at-risk personnel once again. Known reservoirs of the original vaccine are maintained in 2 approved laboratories in the US and Russia.

ACAM2000 is made from a pox virus, vaccinia, and contains live vaccinia virus. ACAM2000 is manufactured by Acambis, Inc. The vaccine is derived from the only other FDA approved smallpox vaccine, Dryvax, which was approved in 1931 but is no longer manufactured and, therefore, is in limited supply.