Countering Bioterrorism: Current Status and Challenges-A Focus on Pharmaceutical Products and Vaccines-

抄録

Countermeasures against bioterrorism have increased since September 11 and anthrax attacks in the United States of America in 2001. The “Strategy to Make Japan the Safest Country in the World” was approved by the Cabinet in 2013. Strengthening countermeasures against naturally-occurring infectious disease outbreaks implies strengthening countermeasures against bioterrorism; however, the latter bears particular challenges. One of these challenges is the approval of counter-terrorism therapeutic or prophylactic agents, since the use of these agents is rare. To move up the market for innovative drug candidates, the “SAKIGAKE” designation scheme was introduced on a pilot basis by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2015. It is hoped that this scheme will be also applicable for counter-terrorism agents.