US DoD selects Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN platform for new vaccine development

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a part of the US Department of Defense (DoD), has selected Bavarian Nordic’ MVA-BN vaccine platform technology for the development of a vaccine against two potential biological threats to national security.

Under the contract, Bavarian Nordic will design, generate and test MVA-BN-based recombinant vaccines against the biological threats.

The US Department of Defense’s official Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction, DTRA may support further development of the vaccine through a larger contract award if the contract yields a successful proof of concept.

Bavarian Nordic president and CEO Anders Hedegaard said, "As part of our strategy to expand our biodefense business beyond smallpox, we are pleased to add DTRA to our list of government partners with whom we work to develop novel biodefense vaccines."

The DTRA is the fourth US Government agency to collaborate with Bavarian Nordic on the development of novel biodefense vaccines, Bavarian Nordic said.

In addition to addressing the entire spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosive threats, DTRA focuses on programmes including basic science research and development, operational support to US warfighters on the front line.