Advanced BioScience Laboratory, Inc. (ABL), a biomedical contract research and manufacturing organization to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, announced today that it has been selected as one of three Simian Vaccine Evaluation Units (SVEUs) as part of a seven-year contract worth up to $80 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

ABL’s selection represents a successful recompetition of the program, which ABL has participated in for the last 14 years. In its role as an SVEU, ABL will continue to provide preclinical support for the development of vaccines against HIV and other infectious diseases. These studies complement NIAID-supported basic vaccine research and vaccine evaluation studies funded through R01 (investigator-initiated research) grants, HIVRAD (HIV Vaccine Research and Design Program) grants, IPCAVD (Integrated Preclinical-Clinical AIDS Vaccine Development) grants, and NHP Consortium awards. The SVEUs also perform studies of candidate vaccines offered by companies or other researchers.

As part of the SVEU resource provided by NIAID, four laboratory contractors including ABL are also charged to perform specialized in vitro analyses on samples provided from studies run at SVEU sites. ABL has held the SVEU Core Quantitative Viral RNA Laboratory contract (HHSN272201100022C) since 2002, and also designed and maintains the SVEU database used to house data from all SVEU studies under a separate contract (HHSN272201100021I).

“SVEU contract sites play a critical support role towards understanding the effectiveness of novel SIV and HIV vaccine candidates in animal models,” said Dr. Ranajit Pal, ABL Principal Investigator for both ABL SVEU contracts. “We are pleased to continue working collaboratively with many of the top researchers in the field.”

Dr. Thomas VanCott, President and CEO of ABL stated, “We are excited about continuing to work with a wide range of investigators advancing novel vaccine technologies through preclinical studies. That the NIAID chose to renew ABL’s role in this program is a testament to the skill and dedication of our scientists and staff.”

The SVEU contract (HHSN272201300002I) is funded in whole by NIAID and carries a funding limit of $80,426,435.

About ABL

Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. (ABL) is a Maryland-based biomedical contract research and manufacturing organization dedicated to advancing vaccines, therapeutics and other biologic products. ABL has extensive experience working with diverse organizations, including various government and academic entities and commercial bio/pharmaceutical companies. Notable services include basic research, product design, process and assay development, preclinical in vivo models (including immunomonitoring), and Phase I/II cGMP biologics manufacturing. Since 2001 ABL has been a part of the Institut Mérieux, a group of four companies dedicated to developing translational science for better patient care globally. For more information on ABL and our services, please visit our website at www.ablinc.com.

About NIAID

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, conducts and supports research at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses.