Israeli Drugmaker Rafa Wins US Defense Contract for Midazolam Auto Injectors
Jerusalem based pharmaceutical company Rafa Laboratories has received a new US Defense Logistics Agency contract for the manufacture and delivery of midazolam auto injectors.
The contract
US federal procurement records show the award was made on September 22 under contract number SPE2DP26D0007.
The federal award notice lists Rafa Laboratories as the recipient and gives the total award value as $257,832,960. A separate Defense Logistics Agency notice published on September 24 confirms that the contract concerns manufacture and delivery of midazolam auto injectors and lists Jerusalem as the place of performance.
The listed contract value should not automatically be interpreted as money already paid to Rafa.
Federal contract notices can include potential ordering amounts or maximum values, while actual purchases and obligations can occur over time. The procurement material available at publication did not provide enough detail to establish how much of the listed total has already been obligated.
The product
The product itself has an established connection to US defense preparedness.
Rafa's 10 milligram midazolam auto injector received US Food and Drug Administration approval in 2022.
The product was developed in cooperation with the US Department of Defense's chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense program and is manufactured at Rafa's facility in Jerusalem.
How the auto injector is used
Midazolam is used to control prolonged seizures.
Rafa says its intramuscular auto injector was designed for rapid administration in emergency conditions, including seizures that can result from exposure to nerve agents.
An auto injector can be used without establishing an intravenous line, a potential advantage when treatment must be administered rapidly in the field.
Why it matters
The new award therefore represents more than a conventional pharmaceutical export.
It places an Israeli manufactured emergency medical product inside a US defense procurement program concerned with chemical and biological preparedness.
The exact quantities, delivery schedule and actual value of orders placed under the new contract should become clearer as additional federal procurement records are published.
