Emergent BioSolutions of Rockville and
PharmAthene of Annapolis received separate federal development contracts to develop
an improved form of the anthrax vaccine.
PharmAthene of Annapolis was awarded with a
multi-year contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
a part of the National Institutes of Health.
“PharmAthene is strategically building a
leading franchise in anthrax countermeasures — a potentially billion dollar
market,” said David Wright, CEO of PharmAthene, in a statement. The company
would receive an initial $13.2 million for clinical trials and testing of the
vaccine.
Emergent BioSolutions of Rockville, PharmAthene’s
rival, said it has also received a federal development contract to build new
anthrax vaccine. The company is the government’s single supplier of anthrax
vaccine under a $448 million contract to stockpile 18.75 million doses of
BioThrax.
Both Emergent and PharmAthene compete to
give the Strategic National Stockpile the 25 million doses of anthrax vaccine.
An improved version of the vaccine is
supposed to stimulate immunity faster, with fewer side effects. Human and
animal vaccines are based on live-attenuated strains, anthrax spores, or
cell-free vaccines prepared from bacterial supernatants or protein subunits,
usually adsorbed onto aluminum salts, such as aluminium hydroxide.
Anthrax occurs to humans when they are
exposed to infected animals, hides, or tissue from infected animals.
Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA, trade name
BioThrax), which is produced by BioPort Corporation Lansing, Michigan, is the
only type of anthrax vaccine licensed by the FDA in the United States.
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