Emergent BioSolutions, a specialty pharmaceutical company and contract manufacturing organization, has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $63 million by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to develop an antidote spray device for treating known or suspected acute cyanide poisoning.

The single-use intranasal spray device will deliver a stabilized form of isoamyl nitrite (SIAN) and is intended for use by first responders and medical personnel following a cyanide incident.

Under the five-year contract, Emergent will work together with Southwest Research Institute, a San Antonio, Texas-headquartered nonprofit applied research and development organization, to advance the development of SIAN toward licensure. This includes completing regulatory activities required to submit an investigational new drug application to the US Food and Drug Administration to enable first-in-human studies, conducting initial clinical studies, and advancing non-clinical and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls development activities.

Source: Emergent Biosolutions