Siga, Critics and the Government's Idea of Competition

So now the fuss about Siga, the company that has developed an antiviral agent against smallpox, is beginning to die down. The critics have said it was too expensive; now it seems it is less expensive than the other less successful antivirals. The critics said Sterns and Perelman were inappropriately influential with their government friends; now it seems there is no evidence for that. The critics said there was no competition; now it seems there was no competition because none exists. The critics said that there was no need for this drug; now it seems that the incubation period for the virus is 9 to 17 days and, since it is very infective, that means that anyone with an exposure would get the disease and be entirely dependent on antivirals alone.

The opponents of Siga and their drug have taken the astonishing position of being opposed to a smallpox cure, this in a time of homicidal religious maniacs and political philosophers (smallpox was the grim darling of the Russian Biopreparate bio-weapons program). But these guardians of the public money and safety have an option.The government, in order to make the competition fair, has given millions of dollars to a company whose drug does NOT work, this in the hopes that some competition might be developed.

Now, how about some scrutiny of that.