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Emergent (EBS) Acquires Worldwide Rights to Smallpox Antiviral

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Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (EBS - Free Report) has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to Chimerix, Inc.’s (CMRX - Free Report) smallpox oral antiviral product, Tembexa. The product is the first FDA-approved smallpox oral antiviral for all ages.

The FDA approved Chimerix’s Tembexa for treating human smallpox disease in adult and pediatric patients, including neonates, in June 2021.

Per the press release, in August 2022, the 10-year contract (75A50122C00047) — valued at up to $680 million — was awarded to CMRX to supply up to 1.7 million treatment courses of tablet and suspension formulations of Tembexa to the government of the United States.

The contract included an initial product procurement valued at around $115 million, with optional future procurement of nearly $551 million, exercisable at the sole discretion of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Per the BARDA agreement, Emergent is expected to make an upfront payment of $238 million to Chimerix. EBS will also have potential milestone payments of up to $124 million contingent on the potential exercise by the United States government of procurement options following the base period to CMRX.

Emergent will additionally pay up to $12.5 million to Chimerix as development-based milestones.

Shares of Emergent have plunged 53.8% this year compared with the industry’s decline of 27.9%.

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We remind investors that, in May 2022, Emergent announced a deal with Chimerix to acquire exclusive worldwide rights to the latter’s smallpox oral antiviral product, Tembexa.

Emergent already makes ACAM2000, its vaccine for smallpox.

Emergent reported zero revenues for ACAM2000 in the second quarter of 2022. The company anticipates the majority of 2022’s ACAM2000 revenues to be realized in the second half of the year.

Increased demand for the ACAM2000 vaccine and Tembexa may help Emergent drive growth in the days ahead. Also, the addition of Tembexa will likely boost its already robust medical countermeasure portfolio.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Emergent currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector include Aptose Biosciences Inc. (APTO - Free Report) and Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (ATRA - Free Report) , both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Aptose Biosciences’ loss per share estimates narrowed by 15.7% for 2022 and 15% for 2023 in the past 60 days.

Earnings of Aptose Biosciences surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on the remaining occasion. APTO delivered an earnings surprise of 2.23%, on average.

Atara Biotherapeutics’ loss per share estimates narrowed 43.2% for 2022 and 21.3% for 2023 in the past 60 days.

Earnings of Atara Biotherapeutics surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on the other occasion. ATRA delivered an earnings surprise of 4.83%, on average.

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