VaxGen Changes Will Delay Anthrax Vaccine

VaxGen Inc. said its first shipments of an anthrax vaccine for the U.S. government would be delayed until the fourth quarter of 2006 as it made required manufacturing changes. The stock fell 33%.

VaxGen won an $877.5-million contract a year ago to supply 75 million doses of a vaccine to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s stockpile of emergency medical supplies, with the first doses due in the first half of next year.

The company said it had informed federal officials about the delay and expected the contract deadline to be extended.

Shares of Brisbane, Calif.-based VaxGen fell $4.92 to $9.88.