Intercell AG has successfully entered into a multi-year contract with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Defense Supply Centre of the US Department of Defense to supply Ixiaro, a vaccine against Japanese Encephalitis (JE). The first sales of Ixiaro under this contract are expected in the near future.
This supply contract was negotiated in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the DLA in August 2008. The parties were able to move forward to finalize the contract after Ixiaro was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on March 30.
The major terms of this contract are: exclusive contract for Intercell to supply DLA with all their requirements for JE vaccine, and five-year contract, with annual options for price modifications;
"With a mortality rate that can exceed 30 percent, Japanese Encephalitis is a clear danger to the thousands of military personnel - and their families - that are stationed in areas where the disease is endemic. Ixiaro will provide a new level of protection for this group of people at risk," stated Gerd Zettlmeissl, chief executive officer of Intercell. "Intercell is very pleased that the Department of Defense has acknowledged the value of Ixiaro by entering into a long-term supply agreement."
Ixiaro was developed by Intercell under an agreement with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR).
JE is a very serious and growing public health threat in Asia. The US military plans to use Ixiaro to protect its troops, families and contract workers who are deployed to affected countries.
Intercell will directly distribute and market Ixiaro to the USmilitary. Novartis vaccines USA will market and distribute the vaccine to the private market in the US.
Intercell's novel Japanese Encephalitis vaccine is a purified, inactivated vaccine for active immunization of adults against the JE virus. The total development time of this vaccine took more than 10 years.