Bavarian Nordic A/S, the largest vaccine maker in Denmark, will need to fire hundreds of workers and shut down a factory if it doesn’t receive an order for a smallpox vaccine from the U.S. government by January, the company’s chief executive officer said.
Company officials said they don’t know why the Department of Health and Human Services hasn’t made the order, which they had expected by June. The vaccine is meant for people with atopic dermatitis and compromised immune systems, who are at risk of severe adverse reactions to the regular smallpox vaccine. The initial batch in the federal stockpile is beginning to lose potency, according to the agency.
