Biodefense dollars not going where needed, experts warn.

Although federal biodefense spending may balloon to $57 billion in 2009, the majority of this funding is failing to reach hospitals and researchers, experts said at a recent Capitol Hill briefing.

"Frankly, if I was a card-carrying terrorist, I'd go to a homeless population and infect them and we wouldn't know about it for quite a while," said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

The 2001 anthrax attacks prompted a surge of federal dollars into biodefense, but 11 departments compete for a slice Of the budget, which leaves some areas underfunded. In short, there is a tot of money being thrown around, but it may be missing the right targets.

Most funding has gone towards stockpiling more than 200 million smallpox vaccines, said Alan Pearson, director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

Another large slice has been funneled into detecting weapons of mass destruction abroad, he noted.

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Domestically, hospital preparedness funding has decreased 15 percent since 2008, and state/local protection is down 18 percent. In the event of a smallpox attack, hospitals might struggle to contain the disease despite the vaccine stockpiles, Pearson said.

But smallpox is only one biological weapon, said Brad Smith, senior associate at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center. Other pathogens such as pandemic flu and Rift Valley fever could wreak havoc if medical countermeasures aren't developed.

Vaccine development has a hefty price tag. Smith estimated that creating eight new drugs would cost upwards of $3.4 billion. During the past two years, the research sector has received $100 million. The Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, which approve newly developed drugs, are also perpetually under funded, said Pearson. This slows the path of medicines from the lab to the public, and if a vaccine isn't FDA approved, it cannot be used in the event of an attack.

"There is a lot of sticker shock when it comes to how much (bio-security) costs," Smith added.

There are some developments to watch for this fall, said the experts, A congressional commission on weapons of mass destruction will report in early November on bioterrorism preparedness. The nine-person committee was formed in January 2007 under the 9/11 Commission Act to evaluate and give recommendations for improvement.

The FDA will also begin a pharmaceutical priority voucher program this September that will give drug companies quicker FDA reviews for vaccines related to bioterrorism.