Acambis, Bavarian Nordic, National Institutes of Health deal

The NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded smallpox Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine contracts to both ACM and BAVA. The three-year contracts are the second of three planned Requests for Proposals (RFP-II) in NIAID's smallpox vaccine tender program. Both companies were awarded contracts under RFP-I.

BAVA's new contract is worth up to $141 million. BAVA will receive $100 million to manufacture 500,000 doses of Imvamune ( MVA-BN). The U.S. government has an option to purchase an additional 2.5 million doses for $41 million. Imvamune is in Phase II studies for smallpox. The contract requires further clinical development of Imvamune and validation of animal models. ...