San Diego-based biologics company Pfenex announced on Monday that it has sealed a five-year contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The biotech firm will be developing a new anthrax vaccine Px563L, which would be a more convenient and quicker to produce vaccine than the current licensed formulation.

The new vaccine will go through initial clinical studies as stated in the agreement between HHS and Pfenex.

The currently FDA-licensed vaccine for anthrax is given before exposure to the deadly bacteria and will also need FDA authorization before it can be handed out.

As for the contract with HHS, BARDA will conduct clinical trials of the vaccine on humans to assess its safety once the vaccine has completed efficacy tests.

"This contract for the development of Px563L offers the potential for a dramatic improvement in the rapid production of large amounts of a high value stable recombinant anthrax vaccine for the U. S. Government," said Pfenex CEO Bertrand C. Liang, in the news release.

Tests will also be conducted to check how the formulation initiates immune response as well as to find out the right dosage that can elicit that response.

Pfenex will use recombinant technology to come up with a vaccine that doesn't breed harmless anthrax, which results to a much safer and most probably less expensive vaccine.

While there have been no recent reports of an anthrax scare, the bacteria remains to be a national threat, according to Robin Robinson, director of BARDA, who told San Diego Union-Tribute via email.

According to Robinson, the last successful attack using anthrax was in 2001, yet the threat is still there.

"The Pfenex vaccine represents a next-generation anthrax vaccine candidate that may be more stable and easier to mass produce and to administer at less cost than the currently licensed anthrax vaccine," Robinson added.