U.S. Awards Smallpox Vaccine Contract

British drug company Acambis Inc. has received a 10-year, $425 million contract to produce its smallpox vaccine for the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 11).

The firm is expected to supply the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with at least 9 million doses annually of its proprietary ACAM2000 vaccine, which would replace an older smallpox shot (see GSN, March 3).

Before the vaccine received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, the government purchased 195 million doses of the drug at an average price of $1.95 each.  Under the new contract, each dose would cost roughly $3.96.

The U.S. health agency could begin purchasing as many as 39 million doses of the vaccine after the contract’s fourth year, which could increase the deal’s value to as much as $660 million, Acambis CEO Ian Garland said in a conference call (Reuters/International Herald Tribune, April 13).

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