U.S. getting discount on anthrax antibiotic

By John King
CNN White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration said Wednesday it reached an agreement with German pharmaceutical-maker Bayer to purchase the anthrax antibiotic Cipro for 95 cents a pill -- down from the previously discounted price of $1.77 per tablet.

As part of the agreement, the government will make an initial purchase of 100 million tablets for $95 million. In addition, Bayer will donate 2 million tablets to the government's supply.

"This agreement means that a much larger supply of this important pharmaceutical product will be available if needed," U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said in a statement.

Currently there are 18.6 million Cipro doses available in the government's reserves.

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Cipro is not the only antibiotic that can effectively treat anthrax. Other drug companies have begun to push to get recognition for their drugs.

Pfizer said it will increase production of Vibramycin (doxycycline), which has already been approved to treat cutaneous (skin) and inhalation forms of anthrax.

In addition, Johnson and Johnson said it will seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its broad-spectrum anti-infective, Levaquin, to be used to treat anthrax. If the drug is approved as an anthrax treatment, the company said it will donate 100 million tablets to the government.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said that, by January, the nation will have enough Cipro on hand "to treat 12 million people immediately for anthrax exposure."

The reduced price per pill, he said, "means that we can have more funds available to assist state and local health responders to be ready for all eventualities."

The funds for the purchase are included in a $1.6 billion emergency proposal made by President Bush earlier this month and now pending before Congress.

Bayer had been under pressure to reduce its price per pill and increase its production of Cipro, the company's name for its patented version of ciprofloxacin, in the wake of the anthrax crisis in the nation. Some officials had suggested Congress allow other companies to make cheaper, generic versions of the drug.