Bavarian Nordic A/S has been awarded a contract valued at more than EUR 11 million to supply its MVA-BN smallpox vaccine to rescEU, a strategic reserve within the European Union (EU).
This order follows an initial contract awarded in June 2023 and is also for delivery in 2024. The vaccines will be stockpiled in another EU country thus expanding the EU’s capability to respond to biological threats and emergencies in the future by enabling rapid deployment of medical countermeasures to its member states and other countries participating in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
RescEU is part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, established by the European Commission as a safety net to protect citizens from disasters and manage emerging risks. It includes, among others, reserves of medical countermeasures which can be deployed in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies.
“We are pleased to continue supporting the initiative from EU to build a stockpile of smallpox vaccines across Europe. While our partnership with the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has focused on mitigating the immediate risk arising from the mpox outbreak in 2022, our recent contracts with rescEU serve to provide a long-term readiness to respond to future health crises. This obviously secures another order for next year confirming an ongoing demand, but also the transition to stockpiling for future outbreaks, which we see as a growing trend with other countries and organizations.”
Paul Chaplin, President & CEO of Bavarian Nordic
About the smallpox vaccine
MVA-BN or Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (marketed as IMVANEX in Europe, JYNNEOS in the U.S. and IMVAMUNE in Canada) is a non-replicating smallpox vaccine developed in collaboration with the U.S. government to ensure supply of a smallpox vaccine for the entire population, including immunocompromised individuals who are not recommended vaccination with traditional replicating smallpox vaccines. In addition to smallpox, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada and the European Commission have also approved the vaccine for use against mpox as the only vaccine having obtained this to-date.