HHS, DOD Collaborate with Private Industry to Expand Domestic Manufacuring Capacity for Safety Needles, Syringes, and Vaccine Vials

HHS and DOD's Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) entered into separate Technology Investment Agreements with Smiths Medical, Inc., Retractable Technologies Inc., and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Co.) to expand the capacity to manufacture safety needles and syringes in the United States. In addition, HHS and DoD are working with Corning Pharmaceutical Technolgies to expand the capacity for glass vial manufacturing, and is collaborating with DoD and Si02 Materials Science to accelerate the production and scale-up of high-performance, durable, glass-equivalent vaccine vials. With these partnerships in place, HHS and DoD are taking steps to increase our ability to produce these lifesaving supplies in the U.S., thereby reducing dependence on other countries to provide these resources. To increase U.S-based capacity to manufacture vaccines and therapeutic treatments, HHS partnered with the Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing at in Maryland and Texas, and for fill-finish manufacturing capacity is working with Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing and ThermoFisher Scientific. These steps increase our ability to produce these lifesaving supplies in the U.S., reduce dependence on other countries to provide these resources, and speed the availability of medical countermeasures.