Smiths Medical, a leading global medical device manufacturer, announced today a strategic public-private partnership with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and the Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND). The partnership expands capacity at the Smiths Medical facility in Keene, New Hampshire, for production of integrated hypodermic needle and syringe products to support the government’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
Smiths Medical has received an order through our authorized distributor Marathon Medical’s BARDA IDIQ agreement for 78.6 million syringe and needle units. In addition, BARDA, in collaboration with JPEO-CBRND, will invest $20 million into a $38 million capital expansion project to further expand Smiths Medical’s production operations in Keene, New Hampshire. The partnership will increase Smiths Medical’s needle production capacity by 125 million units per year. The federal government will have priority access to this expanded capacity for vaccination efforts dedicated to COVID-19, flu vaccines, and future pandemics.