BARDA awards $100 mln contract to Emergent Biosolutions for the delivery of anthrax vaccine to national stockpile

Emergent Biosolutions Inc. on Friday signed a two-year contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) valued at $100 million for the delivery of the company’s anthrax vaccine, called BioThrax, to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).

The most recent contract is separate from and in addition to the company’s $911 million BioThrax procurement contract with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Emergent also signed a modification to its Sept. 30, 2016 contract with BARDA for the development and procurement of the company’s next-generation anthrax vaccine candidate called NuThrax.

The modification increases the number of future deliveries of the vaccine candidate from 2 million doses to 3 million. It also reduces the purchase price for doses to be procured during the option period by $100 million, which reduces the total contract value to approximately $1.5 billion from the previously announced $1.6 billion.

“Emergent is pleased to support BARDA in its efforts to enhance the nation’s preparedness against the threat of anthrax,” said Adam Havey, president of the biodefense division at Emergent Biosolutions. “Emergent is committed to developing and manufacturing preparedness solutions that address our customers’ needs to protect against a broad spectrum of public health threats.”