BioProtection Systems Corp. (BPS), Ames, Iowa, is being awarded an $8,168,814 cost-plus-fixed fee contract to advance the rVSV ZEBOV-GP (BPSC1001) candidate Ebola Zaire vaccine towards regulatory approval.
BioProtection Systems Corporation operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of NewLink Genetics, Inc.
“There is an urgent need for a medical countermeasure against the deadly Ebola virus,” commented Dr. Charles Link, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NewLink. “This Ebola vaccine has been 100% effective in preventing lethal infection when given to non-human primates before they are infected with the virus. The vaccine also acts rapidly enough to have significant efficacy even when given to animals that have recently received a typically lethal dose of Ebola virus.”
The estimated completion date for the base period of the contract is Sept. 8, 2016. Fiscal 2015 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $8,168,814 are being obligated at time of award.
This contract was a competitive acquisition under a broad agency announcement. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia is the contracting activity (HDTRA1-15-C-0058).
BPS is based on three core technologies, each of which can be leveraged into the infectious disease or biodefense fields. The first is HyperAcute immunotherapy technology, which is currently focused on enhancing vaccines for influenza but can be adapted to a number of vaccines. The second technology is based on the yellow fever virus vaccine strain. The third technology is a replication-competent recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus, or rVSV, an advanced vaccine technology developed for the Marburg and Ebola viruses.
