On Jul. 8, 2020, BD (Becton, Dickinson) announced the formation of a strategic, public-private partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop new manufacturing lines for injection devices that will provide priority access to the U.S. government for hundreds of millions of syringes and needles to support current and future pandemic vaccination efforts.

As part of the partnership, BARDA will invest an estimated $42 million into a $70 million capital project to further expand BD’s operations and manufacturing capacity in Nebraska, where the company has manufactured medical devices for nearly 70 years. The new capacity is expected to be online within 12 months and once completed, BARDA will have priority access to injection devices from these new manufacturing lines to support mass vaccination efforts for COVID-19 and future pandemics.

In addition, BD also finalized an initial pandemic order for 50 million needles and syringes to be delivered by the end of December 2020 to support the U.S. vaccination effort for COVID-19. This order will be fulfilled through BD’s current manufacturing capacity, and the company continues to work closely with the U.S. government to finalize additional near-term quantities of injection devices that will be needed to fulfill the promise of the Operation Warp Speed vaccine program.

Importantly, based on BD’s manufacturing capability, the company does not expect this initial order or future quantities will impact BD’s ability to fulfill existing customer requirements for needles and syringes, including the annual flu vaccination and childhood immunization campaigns. In addition, the Defense Production Act designation on the initial order enables BD to seek priority access to raw materials for manufacturing, and the company also expects enhanced logistics support from the U.S. government to ensure rapid transport and distribution of devices.

BD is the largest manufacturer of injection devices in the world, producing billions of syringes and needles annually through its global manufacturing network. In addition to the United States, BD has received pandemic orders from other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.