Emergent vows to continue battle over collapsed merger

A federal judge has tossed Emergent BioSolutions' attempt to force Protein Sciences into bankruptcy, but Emergent isn't about to give up on its long-running fight with Protein Sciences following the collapse of their merger deal.

These two vaccine companies have been squabbling ever since Emergent's $78 million deal to buy Protein Sciences fell through last year. In this latest round, Emergent says that the judge determined that Protein Sciences was insolvent for not paying its debt in a timely way but felt that Emergent was better off pursuing its lawsuit against the company. Protein Sciences, for its part, says that it tried to repay the $10 million Emergent originally loaned it to get through the merger process, but can't get a response. "It's clear, they want the assets, not the money," Protein Sciences' COO Manon Cox tells the Washington Business Journal.

Protein Sciences' fortunes have changed considerably since the merger pact was signed. The federal government issued a $35 million contract to Protein Sciences to develop new flu vaccine technology. And that contract could potentially be worth $147 million.

- read the story from the Washington Business Journal

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