DynPort ramps up work on plague vaccine

Frederick company develops measures to protect troops

While the days of a disease wiping out 30 percent of a country’s population are likely over, the Department of Defense has not ruled out another plague pandemic. To prevent such an outbreak, the Pentagon this month selected a Frederick company to continue developing a plague vaccine with an eye toward protecting U.S. military personnel.

DynPort Vaccine Co., which has been the prime contractor for the Pentagon’s vaccine effort for 10 years, landed the contract that secures all future funding that the department allocates to its vaccine development program, called the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program.

‘‘We are very pleased that a decision has been made regarding a future plague vaccine,” Richard Nidel, deputy joint product manager for the Pentagon program, said in a statement. The contract aims to continue funding vaccine development through Food and Drug Administration approvals.

Though a dollar amount has not been set for the award, DynPort officials are more confident than ever that they’ll secure FDA approvals within a few years for the vaccine, which is now in phase 2 clinical trials.

DynPort scientists, working with a strain first identified and developed by the Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, have been tweaking the vaccine through clinical trials, said Ian Henderson, the company’s chief scientific officer.

‘‘We’re in advanced development and are moving forward with the process,” Henderson said.

Defense Department officials were unavailable for comment.

DynPort is working on the vaccine at its headquarters on Thomas Johnson Drive in Frederick, and at about 10 subcontractor sites in the region, Henderson said.

DynPort, a subsidiary of $16.5 billion Computer Sciences Corp. of Falls Church, Va., primarily develops biodefense products such as botulism, influenza and plague vaccines. It has moved into the public health field in the past five years, said DynPort spokeswoman April Finnen.

As a military subcontractor, DynPort has worked at Fort Detrick in an effort to develop antidotes and other counter-measures for biological warfare and bioterrorism. The company has worked to find ways to combat a variety of biological and chemical dangers that include anthrax and smallpox.

DynPort’s awards include a $35 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2005 and a $31.9 million contract from the Department of Health and Human Services in 2006 that was increased to $242 million in 2007, Finnen said.

DynPort received the Technology Award in the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce’s 2007 Summit Awards program for its advances in technology that fostered growth for the company. This year, the Frederick County Office of Economic Development named DynPort one the top 10 family-friendly businesses in the county.

FIGHTING DISEASE

DynPort Vaccine Co. of Frederick is working to finalizing a plague vaccine to protect U.S. troops. Among the company’s other federal contracts in recent years:

October 2005: $35.1 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop a tularemia vaccine. Tularemia is a biological threat agent that is extremely infectious. Inhalation may lead to pneumonia, which can cause death.

May 2006: $31.9 million from the Department of Health and Human Services for seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines. The contract is shared with Baxter International Inc. of Deerfield, Ill.

November 2007: $201.2 million is added to the 2006 contract, bringing the total to $242 million.

Source: DynPort Vaccine Co.