Smallpox antiviral vs. vaccine & $$$

[healthinfo6]

This was on CNN last night. It's lengthy but revealing.
Seems a company SIGA was awarded a $422M contract to produce a smallpox anti-viral drug, not vaccine, to supplement the USA smallpox vaccine stockpile. The main issue here is it was a no-bid contract which USA Congress now wants to investigate and there are general statements, assumed to be accurate, about smallpox vaccinations along with an MD questioning if this drug even works.
A small company, Chimerix, also claims to have a smallpox antiviral drug but was pushed out of the bidding process, thus suggesting some type of preferential treatment for SIGA.
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/08/s ... =allsearch
Part 2 has interview with SIGA board member who comments she can't take the smallpox vaccine but can the anti-viral and the drug cures smallpox.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/201 ... y-pt-2.cnn
Ron Perelman, philanthropist, the 25th richest American, and 64th richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of USD$12 billion has controlling interest in SIGA. He is closely tied to Obama adminstration and ran Revlon.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/08/politics/ ... ?hpt=hp_t1
Susan