[Letter to Jamie S. Gorelick from Harriet S. Rabb]

Honorable Jamie S Gorelick
August 20, 1993
Page Three
Finally, this morning I received a fax from John McNeill, your
Acting General Counsel, in which he stated that,
the Army was also unsuccessful in obtaining agreement from
MicroGeneSys to donate the amount of vaccine needed for the
trial. However, MicroGeneSys did obtain investment
sponsorship for one-third of the vaccine needed.
Accordingly, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
(WRAIR) has reluctantly agreed to begin the proposed
three-year trial without a commitment from the company for
donation of all of the vaccine needed for tho trial.
Continuation of the project beyond the first year remairae
contingent upon a subsequent agreement of th' parties; WRAIR,
and MicroGeneSys have signed an agreement to this effect.
Let me reiterate the position of HHS now and from the outset.
This Department is ready and willing to undertake a multi-v ne
(including MicroGeneSys gp 160), multi-year clinical trial of
potential AIDS vaccines. One requirement precedent to going
forward with that test now and always has been that the
manufacturer donate the vaccine to be tested. If and when qp 160
is available through donation to undertake and complete the full
clinical trial, HHS is ready to enter into the agreement that
would make $20 million available from the Department of Defense
for this purpose and to commence the trials forthwith.
I apologize for the length of this letter, but I wanted to be
certain that you understand the matter from my perspective and
see the full documentary history on which my understanding of
these events rests. Should you have any questions about the
foregoing, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Harriet S. Rabb

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