Date: Sep 25, 2015 Author: Matthew Patane Source: (
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An Ames company that became part of the fight against a recent outbreak of the Ebola virus has received more than $8 million from the federal government.
NewLink Genetics announced this week that the Defense Threat Reduction Agency awarded one of NewLink's subsidiaries an $8.1 million base contract. The contract comes with the possibility of NewLink receiving an additional $5.2 million in the future.
A pharmaceutical company, NewLink is primarily focused on developing cancer-fighting therapies.
The federal money is intended to help support the development of an experimental Ebola vaccine that NewLink licensed from Canadian officials.
NewLink originally licensed the vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The Ames company has since licensed the vaccine to Merck & Co. for $50 million, with the larger pharmaceutical company taking over primary research, development and manufacturing of the vaccine.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency is part of the U.S. Department of Defense. The agency awarded NewLink a $1 million contract in August 2014, around the same time as the deadly Ebola virus swept through countries in West Africa.
The outbreak of Ebola has killed upward of 11,300 people, primarily in West Africa, as of Sept. 22, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
