Emergent Biosolutions said on Thursday it signed a $911 million contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to supply vaccines to the Strategic National Stockpile to bolster U.S. national preparedness efforts in the event of a biological attack.
The global biopharmaceutical company’s contract involves supplying about 29.4 million doses of its anthrax vaccine BioThrax to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) through 2021.
BioThrax is the only anthrax vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for both pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis of anthrax disease, the company said.
Emergent Biosolutions, which develops and manufactures a variety of medical countermeasures for biological and chemical threats and infectious diseases, said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is advancing its anthrax preparedness strategy with multiple contracts for the company’s anthrax vaccines.
“Emergent believes these actions reflect the U.S. government’s continued assessment of anthrax as a high-priority threat and its firm commitment to protect the nation against bioterrorism,” said Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi, president and chief executive officer of Emergent BioSolutions.
“We are pleased to be able to make meaningful contributions to helping the government execute its strategy to achieve its preparedness goals,” he said.
In addition, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) issued a notice of intent to procure about $100 million of BioThrax for the SNS, most likely in the first half of 2017, or about 24 months from the date of the contract award. BARDA is a division within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response at HHS.
BARDA also awarded Emergent Biosolutions an up to $1.6 billion contract on Sept. 30 for NuThrax, its next-generation anthrax vaccine candidate. The government could begin procuring NuThrax in 2019, provided it receives pre-approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
That contract also includes procurement options for the delivery of an additional 7.5 million to 50 million doses of NuThrax to the SNS.
Under its various contracts with the U.S. government, the company plans to deliver approximately 9 million doses of BioThrax in both 2017 and 2018. In 2019, the company expects to deliver about 10 million doses of both BioThrax and NuThrax, with deliveries expected to continue until 2021.
Emergent Biosolutions said the government’s recent contracts with the company reflect its intention to transition the stockpile of anthrax vaccines from BioThrax to NuThrax beginning in 2019.
There is a growing recognition in government that the United States needs to strengthen its efforts to protect citizens for the possibility of a biological attack.
This week the U.S. Senate passed the landmark 21st Century Cures Act medical research package, which includes provisions to bolster biodefense efforts by incentivizing investments in vaccines and treatments for dangerous diseases.
Last year, the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, chaired by former Sen. Joseph Lieberman and former Gov. Tom Ridge, raised a red flag when it released a report that found the nation’s national biodefense strategy had major gaps and needed significant improvement.