Emergent BioSolutions Inc., which is headquartered in Gaithersburg and has nine facilities including Bayview in Baltimore, Pigtown/Carroll-Camden Industrial Area (Camden location), and Rockville, has secured a $628-million task order with the Federal Government to develop and manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. Emergent announced this will result in an approximately $85.5-million investment into its Camden and Rockville facilities.
The task order is under an existing contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
Last year, Emergent began a $50-million expansion of its Camden facility at 1111 S. Paca St. that was expected to lead to 60 additional jobs. Miko Neri, senior director of corporate communications for Emergent, told SouthBMore.com the new task order investment in Camden will be an “investment in capacity.”
“Emergent is proud of this expanded BARDA partnership that symbolizes confidence in our development and manufacturing capabilities that have served the U.S. government’s needs for more than two decades,” said Robert G. Kramer Sr., president and chief executive officer of Emergent, in a press release. “Our longstanding record of delivering safe and effective medical countermeasures for public health positions us to continue to help at this critical moment by advancing COVID-19 vaccine programs of our fellow innovators in the industry.”
From the Emergent press release:
Under the task order, Emergent will deploy its molecule-to-market CDMO offering, committing manufacturing capacity, valued at approximately $542.7 million, for production of COVID-19 vaccine candidates through 2021. This award secures, on behalf of leading COVID-19 vaccine innovators that are supported by the U.S. government, capacity for drug substance manufacturing at the company’s Baltimore Bayview facility and for drug product manufacturing at the Baltimore Camden and Rockville locations. The task order also includes an investment of approximately $85.5 million for the rapid expansion of Emergent’s viral and non-viral CDMO drug product fill/finish capacity at the Baltimore Camden and Rockville facilities.
Emergent’s Baltimore Bayview CIADM facility was established through a public-private partnership with HHS in 2012 and was designed for rapid manufacturing of large quantities of vaccines and treatments during public health emergencies. The Baltimore Bayview facility has the capacity to produce tens to hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine on an annual basis, based upon the platform technology being used. The task order extends the CIADM collaboration to include viral and non-viral drug product fill/finish capabilities at Emergent’s Rockville and Baltimore Camden facilities. Activities under this task order are in addition to the company’s previously announced collaborations for COVID-19 vaccine candidates with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, and Vaxart that are currently underway.
“Emergent’s landmark partnership with BARDA puts us at the forefront of CDMO collaborations, elevating us to respond to these unprecedented times,” said Syed Husain, SVP and CDMO business unit head at Emergent, in the press release. “This innovative solution paves the way for pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovators with leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates to have an established U.S. development and manufacturing supply chain. This investment in increased capacity and capabilities will serve the industry’s expanding clinical and commercial pipelines more broadly, ultimately benefiting more patients globally.”
Recently built addition at the Camden facility
