Bavarian Nordic comments on Obama Administration's revised strategy for medical countermeasures

Bavarian Nordic A/S (Copenhagen:BAVA) -- a leading industrial biotechnology company and long-term collaborator with the U.S. Government on the development of vaccines for the protection against biological threats, today commented on the Obama Administration's revised strategy for development, procurement and stockpiling of medical countermeasures.

Anders Hedegaard, CEO & President of Bavarian Nordic, said: "It was with great anticipation that I reviewed the Obama Administration's new plan for medical countermeasures against biological threats. Today's announcement that HHS will invest nearly $2 billion to streamline the regulatory process, augment manufacturing capacity and speed the development of novel technologies is a sign that the Obama Administration takes seriously this national security priority."

Just last month Bavarian Nordic delivered the first 1 million doses of IMVAMUNE(R), a next generation smallpox vaccine, to the U.S. government.

"This milestone was accomplished through a seven year partnership between our company and the Department of Health and Human Services," Hedegaard said. "The successful implementation of the initiatives announced today will help companies navigate many of the challenges that Bavarian Nordic confronted in the development of IMVAMUNE(R). We expect that new and dedicated funding to support the FDA's regulation of medical countermeasures will simplify our efforts to overcome the regulatory challenges unique to medical countermeasures development. The report identifies the need for the U.S. government to do a better job at clearly articulating which products are needed, in what quantities. The development of an integrated 5-year budget for medical countermeasures development, procurement and stockpiling, and a clear articulation of the U.S. government's requirements, will allow us to better target our investments in product development."