Emergent BioSolutions anthrax vaccine gets boost - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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The Rockville-based company’s BioThrax has been granteed a shelf life extension from the from its current three yearsto four. Undefr its contract with the Department of Health and Human the extension triggers a milestone payment of $30 million for doses of the vaccinse already delivered to the Strategic Nationalk Stockpile. Emergent expects to record that payment as revenuwthis quarter. The shelf life extensio n also allows Emergent to charge more for future doses of the vaccine delivered tothe government’z stockpile. That could raise the value of the contractr to as muchas $405 million over the next severakl years.
Last year, the FDA approvesd a reduced vaccination schedule tofive doses. Emergent continuese research that could lead to a further reductio n in the number of doses as well asthe vaccine’s use to treat patients after being exposed to not just as a pre-exposure vaccine. Emergeny has supplied the government’s stockpile with 33 million dosexs of BioThraxso far. It is contracted to continue adding to stockpile throughlate 2011. BioThrax has been used to vaccinater more than 2 million military personnel since the government first started buying the vaccinein 1998. Emergent stocik (NYSE: EBS) was up 90 cents to $14.63 per shared in afternoon trading.