Emergent BioSolutions from the United States has inked a contract to buy the French Pharma giant Sanofi’s smallpox vaccine business, ACAM2000. The deal is worth of USD 125 million.
The total price of the agreement constitutes to USD 97.5 million in advance and around USD 27.5 million in imminent conditional regulatory and some milestones related to production.
Smallpox is a contagious disease caused by the Variola virus, a part of the Orthopox virus family. Variola has two variants, Variola major, and Variola minor.
ACAM2000 vaccine is the only licensed vaccine that was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It can be used for people who are at high risk of smallpox infection. It helps in boosting the immunity system to defend against Variola virus causing smallpox disease.
The ACAM2000 vaccine is nominated for use in a bioterrorism crisis, with over 230 million dosages have been rendered by now to the United States Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
The curative treatment is also approved in Singapore and Australia and presently being stoked by the United States and internationally too.
The chief executive officer and president of Emergent BioSolutions, Mr. Daniel Abdun-Nabi said that this deal will make their portfolio more diverse and extends their antidote authorization with a vaccine, which is currently stockpiled in the United States as well as internationally too.
After concluding this deal, US-based Emergent BioSolutions will also get a on hand agreement for the period of ten years which was formerly esteemed up to USD 425 million with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with a leftover value of nearly USD 160 million for rendering ACAM2000 vaccines to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
Additionally, the Emergent BioSolutions will purchase a United States based cGMP bulk production plant in Canton, MA and also let out a cGMP fill/finish facility Rockville, MD. The facilities provide work for over 100 people in the United States.
By acquiring the facilities, the Emergent BioSolutions expects that this deal will boost their contract production operations. The deal with French pharma giant Sanofi includes a concurrence to contract produce at the Canton site Sanofi's Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine (JEVV), commercialized beneath the brand name Imojev (JE-CV), and formerly known as ChimeriVax. Sanofi will supply the essential materials.
The Emergent expects that the contract will amplify operations through the accumulation of reside viral production and fill/finish capacities, plus the implementation of a contract manufacturing agreement to render volume drug doses for one of the commercial vaccines of Sanofi.
Owing to customary closing regulations counting antitrust regulatory sanction, the deal is anticipated to close by the end of this year.