Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (EBS Quick QuoteEBS - Free Report) opened down 22% on Wednesday on news that the U.S. Government issued two solicitation notices that didn’t quite live up to investors’ expectations. The first is for the continued procurement of 29.4M doses of BioThrax, the firm’s current anthrax vaccine, as well as advanced development and procurement of up to 27M doses of a next-generation anthrax vaccine.

As SeekingAlpha reports, EBS saw an unusually high 8x surge in volume in response to the announcement today. Investor disappointment stems from the fact that of the 56.4M doses of anthrax vaccines that the federal government is seeking out per the solicitations, only 29.4M comes from a current EBS product. However, EBS is confident that their new vaccine currently in development, NuThrax, satisfies the specifications in the HHS solicitation.

EBS is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to creating countermeasures to biological and chemical threats, as well as diseases. EBS had announced on Tuesday that the FDA had completed its Pre-Approval Inspection of the company’s facility for the development of an Anthrax vaccine, and is expected to be approved by August 15. The $104 million BioThrax program is fully funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Just last week, EBS had announced that the FDA gave BioThrax orphan status, meaning that it has marketing exclusivity in the U.S. through November of 2022. As it stands, BioThrax is the only FDA-licensed vaccine for anthrax.

EBS currently sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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