The contract will run for a period of two years with an initial contract award amount of $16.8 million. Under the contract, 59 jurisdictions will be able to purchase Relenza (zanamivir) at a federally negotiated price from GSK and will receive a 25% federal subsidy for a prescribed number of treatment courses.
The contract allows states to purchase up to 15.5 million antiviral treatment courses as part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) program to ensure the country has stockpiles to cover at least 25% of the US population.
The jurisdictions’ part of the overall stockpile program amounts to 31 million treatment courses. In addition to these 31 million federally-subsidized, state-purchased treatment courses of antiviral drugs, the federal government will purchase 44 million antiviral treatment courses for state use which will be stored in the strategic national stockpile.