Rockville, MD (July 20, 2011) – Advanced BioScience Laboratories (ABL) will provide nonhuman primate support and laboratory services for the Delaney AIDS Research Enterprise (DARE), Toward an HIV-1 Cure Project U19 grant entitled “Myeloid-T cell Interactions that Sustain HIV and SIV Reservoirs during Effective Antiretroviral Therapy.” Protocols approved by ABL’s IACUC will be implemented to investigate if foci of persistently replicating or latent virus are associated with pathologic myeloid-T cell interactions and whether virus pools can be diminished or eradicated by inhibition of a single or multiple interactions. ABL will collect and process specified tissues for further analysis.

Three research teams focused on developing strategies that could help to rid the body of HIV are receiving grants totaling more than $14 million a year, for up to five years. The grants are part of the Martin Delaney Collaboratory, a funding opportunity designed to foster public-private partnerships to accelerate progress toward an HIV cure.

ABL will provide services to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) led by co-principal investigators Steven Deeks, M.D., and Joseph M. McCune, M.D., Ph.D., of UCSF and Rafick Sekaly, Ph.D., of VGTI-Florida. The research seeks to define the nature and location of the cells where HIV hides, better understand the immunology of how these viral reservoirs are created and maintained, and develop and test targeted treatments that eliminate HIV reservoirs without broadly activating the immune system.

NIAID is providing primary funding for the grants. Additional funding comes from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), also part of NIH. Funding beyond the first year is subject to the availability of appropriations.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov/.

About ABL: Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. (ABL) is a Maryland biomedical contract research and manufacturing organization dedicated to advancing vaccine, microbicide, and therapeutic development. Through decades of experience in virological research, ABL has made major contributions to the field of HIV vaccines, and developing the methods and technology allowing ABL to broaden its capabilities for a wide array of diseases. ABL has extensive experience working with diverse organizations, including various government and commercial entities, and commercial bio/pharmaceutical companies. Since 2001 ABL has been a part of the Institut Merieux, a group of four companies dedicated to developing translational science for better patient care globally. Notable services include basic research, product design, process and assay development, preclinical in vivo models (including immunomonitoring), and Phase I/II cGMP biologics manufacturing.

To find out more information, please visit us at www.ablinc.com.