Defense Procurement News

General Dynamics was one 23 companies awarded a possible right to get work under a large ID/IQ contract for planning and support. See a press release here. The contract if all options are exercised could be worth up to $5 B. Like all of these contracts, though, there is no guarantee that any company will get work, or that any will actually be exercised. This contract again demonstrates that DoD is paying a great deal of money to support its soldiers, retirees and dependents.

CombiMatrix received a contract from DoD to continue development of hand-held diagnostic equipment for use in the field. See the press release here. The contract is worth over $900 K. DoD as well as other government agencies are evaluating products based on CombiMatrix’s systems to detect bacteriological and chemical systems. This contract builds upon those earlier efforts.

Express Scripts corporation was awarded a one year contract with four option years to provide prescriptions to DoD members, retirees and dependents. See an article here. If the full value of the contract is executed it will be worth about $2.8 B. DoD has been moving steadily to outsource a great deal of its medical care over the last thirty years and this is a continued part of that. This is continuation of work that Express Scripts has been doing since 2004.

Axiom Resource Management announced that the DoD had awarded it and its partners a contract to support the management of the military health care program. See the press release here. The contract is a 10 year ID/IQ with one base and 9 option years. No value was given. This shows that the DoD spends money on a lot more things then just boots, bullets and beans. This is in many ways is a logistics function - providing your soldiers, their dependents and your retirees quality health care. This is key to maintaining the force as it is a benefit that attracts people. Of course, screw up the medical care of these people and it significantly effects morale, retention and recruiting.

As we reported earlier today, Osiris Therapeutics won a Department of Defense contract to develop a treatment for radiation sickness. Unfortunately, Osiris’s gain was Cleveland BioLabs’ loss. Cleveland’s “shares plummeted nearly 60% after the Buffalo, N.Y., company’s proposed treatment for the gastrointestinal effects of radiation sickness, Protectan CBLB502, wasn’t chosen.” More details at The Street.

The Department of Defense awarded Osiris Therapuetics a contract that might be worth $224 M dollars to utilize a stem-cell therapy drug to treat radiation caused gastrointestinal injuries. See CNNMoney.com story here. The initial funding of $4 M is to develop the treatment, with another $200 M possible if the DoD decides to purchase units. This is an example of how diverse DoD spending is. It is not just for bullets, beans, gas and soldiers.