On Feb. 24, 2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was informed by the only U.S.-licensed manufacturer of varicella zoster immune globulin (VZIG) (Massachusetts Public Health Biologic Laboratories, Boston, Massachusetts) that the company had discontinued production of VZIG.

In Feb. 2006, an investigational (not licensed) VZIG product, VariZIG (Cangene Corp., Winnipeg, Canada) became available under an investigational new drug application submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

This product can be requested from the sole authorized U.S. distributor, FFF Enterprises (Temecula, California), for patients who have been exposed to varicella and who are at increased risk for severe disease and complications.