SIGA Technologies
SIGA Technologies, Inc. () is an American pharmaceutical company founded in 1995, currently based in New York City. The company markets pharmaceutical solutions for anti-viral smallpox treatment. The company trades publicly as "SIGA" on NASDAQ. History. In September 2009, SIGA Technologies received a $1.6 million research fund from the National Institutes of Health ("NIH") for its broad-spectrum antiviral candidates. In August 2011, SIGA Technologies was awarded a $7.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop an antiviral drug for treating and preventing Lassa fever and others of arenavirus origin. In the  same year, the company was awarded over $400 million contract for their antiviral drug "TPOXX" by the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for the purpose of its development and distribution. In the same year, the company was ordered to pay $232 million in damages in a legal dispute with PharmAthene over rights to the smallpox drug tecovirimat. In July 2013, SIGA Technologies delivered about 590,000 courses of its smallpox antiviral drug tecovirimat (Arestvy) to the United States Government's Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), meeting the requirement of Government's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development  Authority (BARDA). In 2013, SIGA laid off its entire research and development division located in Corvallis, Oregon. The company liquidated all laboratory equipment at auction from that site. In May 2018, the FDA advisory committee decided that the benefits of SIGA's small molecule antiviral treatment, TPOXX, outweigh its potential risks. Later in July, FDA granted the approval of TPOXX to SIGA after the drug was evaluated in 359 healthy human volunteers. In July 2019, SIGA signed a $23 million contract with the United States Department of Defense to create TPOXX's post-exposure prophylaxis. In 2021, the company  submitted an intravenous version of TPOXX to the FDA for approval. Operations. SIGA has a well established cooperation with US federal agencies for its research and development activities. SIGA is providing countermeasures to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and the Department of Defense (DoD), such as Category A pathogens using BSL-3 or -4 work. In September 2018, the company signed a contract with BARDA for the delivery of oral and IV formulations of TPOXX to the Strategic National Stockpile, effective for the following years. Products and services. SIGA's products include tecovirimat, sold under the brand name Tpoxx. Tpoxx was  the first FDA-approved drug used to treat adults and children for smallpox. Other products include Arestvyr, (ST-246), an orally administered antiviral drug for orthopoxviruses; anti-arenavirus drug for hemorrhagic fever classified as Category A agents by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; anti-Orthopoxvirus Drug; Dengue Antiviral; Broad Spectrum Antiviral, screening for antivirals against Category A and B pathogens. Awards. In 2008, the company was selected as a winner of the Deloitte New York, New Jersey, Connecticut Technology Fast 50 Program for 2008, as a four-time winner of the reward.