COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Osiris Therapeutics (Nasdaq:OSIR) announced today that it has been awarded a $224.7 million contract, including purchase options, from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to develop and stockpile Prochymal, an adult stem cell therapy, for the repair of gastrointestinal injury resulting from radiation exposure.
Under the terms of the contract, the DoD will provide funding to Osiris for the development of Prochymal for acute radiation syndrome (ARS) in two stages, with an initial amount of $4.2 million in 2008. Upon Food and Drug Administration approval for ARS, the contract provides for the purchase of up to 20,000 doses, at $10,000 per dose, of Prochymal in four 5,000 dose increments. Prochymal was selected by the DoD as part of an open and competitive solicitation with pre-specified criteria that included safety and efficacy data, manufacturing capacity, soundness of the development plan, and time to final product delivery.
