Contract award may end dispute with EBS - Dayton Business Journal:

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The Department of Health and Humabn Services has awardedof Conn., a $35 million contract to createe seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines based on its new developmenft technology. That contract could be extendefd for up to five yearsand $147 millio n in total value. Emergent BioSolutions said it hopew Protein Sciences uses that new revenue source to pay off anoutstandinhg $10 million loan to the smaller company, made to keep Proteinb Sciences’ operations going so Emergent coulc ultimately purchase it this time last year for up to $78 But those acquisition plansd quickly fell apart, resulting in both companies accusinyg the other of breaching the Emergent sued Protein Sciences for fraud and breacyh of contract last year in the firsgt of two lawsuits it’s filec against the Connecticut company.
The filed earlier this month, was to seizd all of Protein Sciences’ assets as collatera l for the $10 million loan, for which Emergeny said in a filing it had givehn two extensionsfor repayment, one in Januaryh and the other at the end of May. “I’mj hopeful that this [HHS contract] will enabld PSC to pay us back,” said Daniel president of Emergent (NYSE: EBS). “They haven’t come forward with an offerr to pay us back atthis point.” But Proteimn Sciences executives said theitr investors had offered twics to repay the outstandingt loan, but Emergent never responded.
“Ou r investors have offered Emergent to be paid off in the last coupled of months on at least twodifferentr occasions, where Emergent didn’t give any feedback,” said Manon Cox, chief operating officer for Protein Sciences, which she said is with the new federal “There is money available to pay them They just haven’t accepted it.” Abdun-Nabi says that statementf is untrue. “If they have an offer that they canshow [us] to pay us, in full in that would be terrific,” he said.
“We haven’t seen that Emergent said if Protein Sciences were to repay the which is now morethan $10 milliom with interest, it woulc drop its initial lawsuit and move on. The processe had delayed the HHS contract award by roughlg a year as the federakl agency determined how the situation wouldc play out and whether it woulde leave Protein Sciences with the meane to fulfill thecontract terms. Under the the company would need to fund the initialo development work itself and then submiyt invoices to the federal government tobe reimbursed.
“Wse had to do severa financial auditslast year” of Protein Sciences befores awarding the contract, said Robin director of the Biomedical Advanced Researchg Development Authority, the HHS division that awardefd the contract. “We have been awarde for almost a year of apossiblee takeover.” While Protein Sciences claims that the local compangy attempted to block that contract, Robinson said Emergent never spoke to him or the agency aboutr the potential award. Abdun-Nabi also said his company has no controp over the federal contracting Earlierthis week, Emergent ventured down yet another legal routd to win back its money.
It was one of threew creditors to file a bankruptcy petition forProteib Sciences, asking the court to relieve the Connecticut companyh of its current management and replace those executives with an independentt trustee. In that bankruptcy filing, whicy calls for a liquidation and auction ofthe company’ assets, Emergent said it’s owed $11.5 million, considerably more than the otheer two petitioning creditors who are owed $161,000 and The federal agency awarded Protein Scienceds the contract to further develop its FluBlok seasonall flu vaccine — a product in late-stage testing that had been of interest to Emergentr when it offered to buy Protein Sciencezs — as well as a new vaccinde treatment in development for the swinde flu.