Development of Countermeasures for Bioterrorism in the United States

Abstract This chapter focuses on one element of biodefense‐the development of medical countermeasures to be used in advance of, or in response to, a bioterrorist attack. Unlike other areas of medicine, for which private market forces are generally sufficient to spur private industry to develop and market useful products, there are few market incentives to develop and market vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for biodefense purposes. The majority of this chapter discusses the laws, regulations, and actions taken to date in the United States to spur the development of diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic agents for biodefense.