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Rockville firm lands contract for government anthrax vaccines

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. of Rockville said Monday it won a five-year contract worth up to $1.25 billion to provide millions of doses of an anthrax vaccine for government stockpiles.

The company said it would supply 44.75 million doses of BioThrax, the only vaccine licensed by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent anthrax infection. The company makes the vaccine at a facility in Michigan.

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Emergent is renovating a facility in Baltimore, where it plans to produce a tuberculosis vaccine, the company said.

In past contracts with the federal government, Emergent has delivered 55 million doses of BioThrax.

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Work on the first vaccines under the latest deal — which the government classified as a sole-source contract, since Emergent is the only entity that makes a vaccine against anthrax — is expected to begin later this year, the company said.

Gus.sentementes@baltsun.com

Twitter.com/gussent


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