Bavarian Nordic Near Deal With US Firm to Make Monkeypox Shots

The Biden administration wants to increase the supply of monkeypox vaccine by clearing the way for a deal between the manufacturer and a Michigan-based company to finish packaging millions of doses in the US.

According to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named as the information isn't public, Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing is close to a deal that would have it ready to start work on the vaccine in four months. It would take twice as long to finish the process. People said that the agreement could still fall through.

The American depositary receipts of Bavarian Nordic went up as much as 4%. Requests for comment were not immediately responded to.

The only approved vaccine for monkeypox is made by Bavarian Nordic. The company is looking for international production partners that can help it make enough shots.

Understanding Monkeypox and how it spreads is one of the topics discussed in this article.

According to the people, the Michigan manufacturer has faced challenges in obtaining materials and equipment needed for the production of Jynneos. The Department of Health and Human Services and the White House have been involved in helping to alleviate the shortages.

Since July, the Biden administration has been involved in these discussions.

Dawn O'Connell, who leads the health department's Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, said on the call that Bavarian Nordic is looking at a partnership with a large US pharmaceutical company.

US health officials thought the country had enough vaccine to deal with the monkeypox cases. The virus was easy to contain and spread through direct contact.

Gay and bisexual men have been hardest hit by the outbreak. Casual contact has been reported as a cause of cases linked to the virus.

The US has the highest number of monkeypox cases in the world. Manufacturing issues, regulatory hurdles and contract negotiations are slowing down the process of getting millions of doses into arms. Equity concerns similar to those seen in the Covid-19 Pandemic have been raised by early vaccines going mostly to White people.

The US has access to bulk vaccine materials equivalent to 13 million doses and has received about 85% of all Jynneos vaccine doses delivered since the outbreak started. More people are at risk of getting the disease than the government has inoculated.

The vaccination technique that uses just one-fifth of a normal dose was approved by the US health officials because of the shortage. The 400,000 doses could be turned into 2.2 million. The technique, which involves injecting the vaccine between layers of skin, requires training and may take weeks to implement.

The US failed to coordinate with the company prior to the announcement of the dose-sparing strategy, according to a letter written by the chief executive officer. The second shot of the two-shot regimen should be delayed until more supplies are available, according to the CEO.

It's not clear how effective the vaccine is at preventing monkeypox in humans, as most studies of its use were done in animals.