Emergent BioSolutions Inc. said on Wednesday it was awarded a contract valued at up to $25 million from the U.S. State Department to supply Trobigard, an intramuscular auto-injector treatment to be used in the event of chemical threats such as nerve agents, in countries outside of the United States.
“Emergent is committed to meeting the State Department’s need for nerve agent countermeasures that enhance the security of U.S. and allied diplomats deployed in high-risk environments worldwide,” Sean Kirk, senior vice president of Manufacturing Operations at Emergent BioSolutions, said.
Trobigard is the company’s first nerve agent antidote auto-injector developed outside of the United States. Designed as a pre-hospital medical intervention, the treatment is currently stockpiled as an emergency use product in a number of Middle Eastern, European and U.S.-allied countries. The product is manufactured in Germany.
Currently, Trobigard is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nor is it promoted or distributed throughout the United States.
“Our priority is to provide for the safety and security of U.S. government personnel and their families deployed around the world as they carry out their mission,” Dr. William A. Walters, managing director of Operational Medicine for the U.S. State Department, said. “Partnering with companies such as Emergent, who can provide reliable solutions to our requirements is important in our efforts to protect against known and emerging health threats.”
The contract covers a 12-month base period of performance with a six-month option period for the manufacture and delivery of Trobigard and a series of training auto-injectors. Emergent will also provide support for the State Department’s requirements for existing or custom-made auto-injectors.
“By leveraging our proprietary Emergard auto-injector platform and our core competencies in contracting, manufacturing, and partnering, we are confident in our ability to provide critical preparedness solutions that could address governments’ currently identified threats and emerging requirements,” Kirk said.
Emergent, a global life sciences company based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, said it is working with the U.S. government to develop new auto-injector and intranasal products to defend against emerging chemical threats such as nerve agents and cyanide. Those products are aimed at supporting chemical defense programs by governments around the world to protect military and civilian populations.