ABC - U.S. govt awards AmerisourceBergen ~$20M to expand speed up monkeypox shot distribution

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday said it had awarded a $19.8M contract to drug distributor AmerisourceBergen ( NYSE: ABC ) to expand and speed up the distribution of vaccines and treatments for monkeypox.
• The contract allows the Strategic National Stockpile to expand its distribution capacity and better support jurisdictional needs by increasing the number of weekly shipments and delivery locations of monkeypox shots and treatments, HHS said in a statement .
• The expanded distribution capacity would support up to 2.5K shipments per week of Bavarian Nordic's ( OTCPK:BVNKF ) ( OTCPK:BVNRY ) Jynneos vaccine and up 2.5K ambient temperature shipments per weeks, which can be used to distribute SIGA Technologies' TPOXX treatment.
• "This new commercial contract will help deliver vaccines and treatments to communities and at-risk individuals more quickly and bring us a step closer to ending the current outbreak," said HHS assistant secretary Dawn O'Connell.
• According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are a total 20,733 monkeypox cases in the U.S. and 54,911 cases globally.
• ABC stock earlier closed -1.1% at $146.02.

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