Pharmathene Buys Avecia Vaccines Unit

PharmAthene of Annapolis, Md., has agreed to pay $20 million to acquire Avecia Biologics' biodefense vaccines business. The deal includes a second-generation recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine, a recombinant dual-antigen plague vaccine, and a third-generation rPA anthrax vaccine. Roughly 50 employees from Avecia's U.K. office will become PharmAthene employees. Avecia will supply the drugs under a long-term agreement and could receive an additional $20 million in milestone payments as well as royalties if PharmAthene wins vaccine contracts. Avecia, which sold the small-molecule piece of its contract manufacturing business to India's Nicholas Piramal in 2005, will now focus on microbial biologics and oligonucleotides.