VaxGen Sells Vaccine Program

South San Francisco-based VaxGen has sold its anthrax vaccine program to Rockville, Md.-based Emergent BioSolutions. For $2 million up front and another possible $8 million in milestone payments, Emergent gets all rights and assets related to a recombinant protective antigen (rPA) vaccine. VaxGen will also receive a percentage of any future sales revenue. Emergent hopes the vaccine, which has undergone a Phase II clinical trial, will be a candidate for the U.S. government's 25 million-dose rPA anthrax vaccine stockpile. The company already has a $448 million contract to deliver 18.75 million doses of its BioThrax vaccine, the only FDA-approved vaccine for preventing anthrax infection.