Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced last week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has exercised options under contract 200-2012-52242 for the supply of Vaccinia Immune Globulin Intravenous (VIGIV) smallpox drug into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
VIGIV is a therapeutic licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of complications due to smallpox vaccination. The contract options, valued at $18.9 million over three years, provide for work required to maintain FDA licensure of VIGIV and to collect plasma for future manufacturing.
VIGIV is an immune globulin made from the blood of people who have gotten the smallpox vaccine more than once. Antibodies, the part of the blood that gives protection from vaccinia infection, are taken out, purified and stored. VIGIV might be used to treat individuals who have developed generalized vaccinia, eczema vaccinatum, or progressive vaccinia after receiving smallpox vaccine.
This contract modification increases the total contract value to $36.6 million. The scope of the contract, originally awarded to Cangene Corporation, which Emergent acquired in February 2014, was to maintain the ability to manufacture licensed VIGIV, with annual options to conduct additional services to support licensure maintenance activities for the product and to allow for additional manufacturing and plasma collections. VIGIV was first delivered into the SNS in 2002 and was subsequently licensed in the U.S. by FDA in 2005 and in Canada by Health Canada in 2007.
“Emergent’s ongoing integration of the Cangene operations has ensured continuity in the fulfillment of our procurement and development contracts with the U.S. Government,” said Adam Havey, executive vice president and president biodefense division of Emergent BioSolutions. “With respect to VIGIV, which remains a critical component of the government’s biodefense program, we are pleased that CDC has exercised these contract options and look forward to implementing the required activities that we anticipate will enable future manufacturing of VIGIV.”
Source: Emergent BioSolutions press release, adapted.
