Emergent BioSolutions

Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. The CEO of Emergent BioSolutions is Fuad El-Hibri. The company traces its roots back to 1998 with the acquisition of the vaccine-manufacturing assets of the former Michigan Department of Public Health, located in Lansing, Michigan. With this acquisition came the license to produce anthrax vaccine for the U.S. Department of Defense. The Lansing facility was originally operated by the Michigan Department of Public Health (MDPH). In 1996, the facility was transferred to the Michigan Biologics Products Institute (MBPI), an entity created for the purpose of privatizing the Biologics Products Division of the MDPH. The facility was eventually sold to BioPort Corporation after competetive bidding. BioPort Corporation was created for the sole purpose of acquiring the assets of MBPI, and was formed by leadership with MBPI in collaboration with Fuad El-Hibri.

Emergent BioSolutions was founded in 2004 by BioPort Corporation and, through corporate restructuring, became the parent company of BioPort Corporation (now Emergent BioDefense Operations Lansing Inc.) and Antex Biologics Inc. (now Emergent Product Development Gaithersburg Inc.), which BioPort acquired in 2003. Emergent Biosolutions moved its headquarters to Rockville, Maryland in October 2006, and became a public company in November 2006. The company remains the sole manufacturer of an FDA-licensed anthrax vaccine, BioThrax®. Sales of the vaccine are almost exclusively to the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services for the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. In June 2005 Emergent acquired UK-based Microscience, Ltd., (now Emergent Product Development UK) a vaccine company primarily involved in the research and development of vaccines and immunotherapeutics. The UK branch focuses its research on commercial vaccines while the US side focuses primarily on biodefense products. Another acquisition occurred in August 2006, with the purchase of Vivacs GmbH, a biotechnology company based in Munich, Germany. Emergent has also opened an office in Singapore. The company employs a staff of approximately 450.

Emergent's portfolio of products in development includes preventive and therapeutic products for anthrax and botulism, two top priority ("Category A") bioterrorism agents. The company also has vaccines for typhoid, hepatitis B, and group B streptococcus in development.