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Acambis Wins USG Contract for Smallpox Vaccine

By Kunal Rambhia, April 25, 2008

On April 23, 2008, Reuters reported that British vaccine developer Acambis won a $425 million, 10-year contract to supply the United States government with 9 million doses of the ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine each year for delivery to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). The contract may be increased to $660 million if the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) opts to increase the order to 39 million doses in the fifth year.1

According to the article, the contract values “each dose at an average of $3.96 over the course of the contract.”1 In the past, CDC purchased 195 million doses of the vaccine for the SNS from Acambis at $1.95 per dose, before it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last August. On April 25, The Telegraph reported that manufacturing of the vaccine under the new contract is required to take place in the U.S.2

References

1. UPDATE 1-Acambis wins $425 mln US smallpox vaccine contract. Reuters. April 23, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSL2320934820080423. Accessed April 25, 2008.
2. US government smallpox vaccine contract for Acambis. The Telegraph. April 25, 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/24/cnacambis124.xml. Accessed April 25, 2008.