US awards smallpox vaccine contract to Bavarian Nordic
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded a contract to Bavarian Nordic for the delivery of 20 million doses of the company's MVA based smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded a contract to Bavarian Nordic for the delivery of 20 million doses of the company's MVA based smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE.
The total value of the deal, including contractual options, is US$ 1.6 bn, of which the base contract amounts to $500 m. In addition to the delivery of 20 million vaccine doses, the base contract will support additional r&d into the product to fulfil the requirements for the potential use of the vaccine during an emergency. In addition, contract support will be used to fund non-clinical and clinical studies necessary for Bavarian Nordic to register the vaccine with the US FDA.
Advanced and milestone payments in the contract amount to US$ 150m of which US$ 125m will be paid in 2007 and 2008.
Peter Wulff, president & ceo of Bavarian Nordic said, "We do not consider this contract to be a single transaction, but rather the beginning of a long-term partnership with the US government. It is encouraging that the US authorities through the recently-established Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has enabled larger milestone payments in among others contracts like ours. This ensures a positive cash flow in the contract throughout the executing period".