Acambis plc has acquired a US-based fill/finish facility from BioReliance Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Invitrogen Corporation.

With the acquisition, Acambis intends to develop a commercial-scale fill/finish capability suitable for many of the vaccines in its development pipeline, which includes the ACAM2000 and MVA3000 smallpox vaccines, ChimeriVax-JE, ChimeriVax-West Nile and C. difficile. Having a capability located entirely in the US is critical to enabling Acambis to provide support for the US Government's wide-ranging biodefence and other preparedness initiatives. Worldwide, there is a very limited capacity for fill/finish of live, viral vaccines, a company release stated.

BioReliance was one of only two commercial contract manufacturers filling live, viral vaccines in the US. To acquire BioReliance's fill/finish assets, Acambis will pay $3m up front and a further $4.5m in 12 equal instalments between 2006 and 2017. Acambis will also assume responsibility for the 12-year lease. No employees are being transferred to Acambis as a result of the transaction.

In addition to providing a fill/finish capability, the 58,000 sq ft stand-alone facility in Rockville, MD offers the capacity for small-scale manufacturing and process development, and includes approximately 14,000 sq ft of space for future expansion. The facility was completed in 2000 and is designed to produce liquid or lyophilised (freeze-dried) pharmaceutical goods at a scale sufficient for clinical trials.

Acambis will undertake an expansion programme with the intention of establishing GMP-compliant fill/finish at a commercial-scale. This will involve an estimated capital investment of $4-6m, the release added.

Gordon Cameron, CEO of Acambis, said: "We are now fully integrated for the first time with the capability to take a vaccine from concept to commercialisation. In securing this strategically important asset, we aim to gain greater control of our costs and timelines, and maximise value by retaining yet more of the manufacturing margin. We also intend to be able to conduct and complete production of our investigational ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine in the US, thus providing a turn-key solution for the future needs of US Government and Acambis."