Emergent BioSolutions gets exclusive US commercial rights to pandemic flu vaccine candidate

US vaccine maker Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS) has signed a license agreement with fellow USA-based privately-held biotech firm VaxInnate Corp under which Emergent acquired the exclusive right to manufacture and sell VaxInnate’s pandemic influenza vaccine candidate in the USA. Financial terms of the deal were not revealed.

The product candidate, a recombinant vaccine, has the potential to be produced quickly, at high yields and in a cost-effective manner. This license enables Emergent to fulfill the requirement to secure a pandemic influenza vaccine candidate under its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which established Emergent as a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (Center) in June 2012. VaxInnate will continue to develop its pandemic influenza vaccine candidate under its current BARDA contract and Emergent will manufacture the pandemic influenza vaccine candidate using flexible manufacturing technology.

“This transaction, which secures manufacturing rights to a next generation pandemic influenza vaccine candidate, is a step towards satisfying Emergent’s commitment to BARDA as a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing,” said Daniel Abdun-Nabi, president and chief executive of Emergent BioSolutions, adding: “Our public-private partnership with BARDA, which taps into our core manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure, provides a real opportunity to make significant progress to address the nation’s medical countermeasure manufacturing requirements. We look forward to continuing to work with BARDA to achieve that important goal.”