Regeneron Wins BARDA Contract

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has entered an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to manufacture and study two antibody therapies for the potential prevention and treatment of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) using its VelociGene and VelocImmune technologies.

HHS will provide as much as $8.9 million of funding to support fill and finish of the antibodies for human use, the preparation and submission of an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. FDA, and a National Institutes of Health-conducted clinical trial in healthy volunteers. Currently there are no approved medicines or vaccines to treat or prevent MERS, which causes severe respiratory tract infections and is associated with high death rates.

“Regeneron has built a unique rapid response platform to address emerging infectious disease threats. In addition to the programs in MERS and Ebola that we are advancing with BARDA, we are also quickly progressing a preclinical program targeting the Zika virus,” said Neil Stahl, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Regeneron. “We are committed to partnering with the government and other organizations to swiftly address these emerging public health emergencies.”