The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two solicitation notices on Tuesday related to the development and procurement of anthrax vaccines for the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), a move that Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., said shows the government’s intent to maintain an anthrax vaccine stockpile capable of protecting 25 million people.
Emergent BioSolutions added that the solicitations show an intent to continue the procurement of 29.4 million doses of its BioThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed) vaccine, the only vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the advanced development and procurement of up to 27 million dose regimens of a next generation anthrax vaccine.
The next generation, two-dose schedule NuThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed with CPG 7909 adjuvant) satisfies all of the requirements set forth in the HHS solicitation, while the timing and requirements align with the anticipated licensure of Emergent BioSolutions’s new large-scale Building 55 manufacturing facility, which will manufacture both BioThrax and NuThrax.
“Emergent is pleased to be uniquely positioned to respond to both solicitations issued by HHS that represent the U.S. government’s intent to continue to procure BioThrax and to further develop and procure a next generation anthrax vaccine for inclusion into the SNS,” Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi, president and CEO at Emergent BioSolutions, said. “We believe our vaccine candidate, NuThrax, may be distinctly suited to satisfy all of the requirements of the HHS solicitation for a next generation anthrax vaccine.”
More than 105 million doses of BioThrax have been procured by the U.S. government over the last two decades to protect civilians and the military, with more than 3.3 million servicemen and women receiving the vaccine.