Bavarian Nordic announced Monday the award of a $9 million subcontract from Crucell Holland B.V., one of Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, as part of a contract awarded to Janssen by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support the advanced development and manufacturing of the Ebola prime-boost vaccine regimen which consists of Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN Filo and Ad26.ZEBOV from Janssen.
The five-year base subcontract covers studies to improve the manufacturing process and establish long-term storage of MVA-BN Filo bulk vaccine. The contract also includes options for an additional $24 million to implement process development activities for formulation of a final drug product with a longer shelf life.
As part of an accelerated development program, Janssen has initiated multiple clinical studies of the prime-boost Ebola vaccine regimen in Europe and Africa. By awarding a contract to Janssen, BARDA is prioritizing the rapid development of this promising vaccine regimen candidate. To date, Bavarian Nordic has produced and delivered the bulk equivalent of over one million doses of its vaccine.
"We are very pleased to strengthen our collaboration with Janssen on the accelerated development of the prime-boost Ebola vaccine regimen,” said Bavarian Nordic President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Chaplin. “More importantly, it is encouraging that the US government — through BARDA, with whom we have worked for over a decade — recognizes the potential of this vaccine to build international preparedness for current and future Ebola outbreaks."
As the majority of revenue from the contract will be recognized in 2016 and 2017, no changes are made in the company’s expectations for the financial results for 2015.
