Emergent BioSolutions said today it will develop monoclonal antibody therapeutics for viral hemorrhagic fever under a task order from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) that is valued at up to $30.5 million.
Using monoclonal antibodies from Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Emergent said it will conduct technology transfer of process materials and information, perform process and analytical method development, execute small-scale production runs, and perform cGMP cell banking leading to cGMP manufacture of bulk drug substance.
The task order—which will use Emergent’s Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM) facility in Baltimore—consists of a 36-month period of performance. The base task order is valued at $7.4 million and would increase to up to $30.5 million over 3 years if all options are exercised.
BARDA has funded the task order number HHSO10033004T under contract HHSO100201200004I.
The task order is the fourth awarded by BARDA to Emergent under the CIADM program. Emergent and BARDA partnered to establish CIADM in 2012 under a contract valued at the time at approximately $220 million, whose costs were shared between the company and the agency.
Since then, the CIADM facility has been used for responding to public health emergencies that include Ebola and Zika viruses, Emergent said.
“Protecting and enhancing life is at the core of Emergent’s mission, and one of the ways by which we are able to fulfill this mission is in partnership with BARDA as it addresses emerging public health threats,” Adam Havey, evp and president of Emergent’s biodefense division, said in a statement.
