ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ABL, Inc. (ABL), a global contract research and manufacturing service provider, announced today it has been awarded the recompetition of the contract for “Preclinical Development Support” (Contract # HHSN272201700010I) by the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contract will run for a total of seven years with a maximum funding level of $318 million. Under this contract, ABL will provide NIH with a comprehensive portfolio of services including product development planning, process and bioanalytical assay development, cGMP manufacturing, product safety and release testing, immunogenicity testing, and regulatory support for promising HIV vaccine and other biologics candidates.
The principal goal of this contract is to accelerate promising HIV prophylactic modalities into the clinic. Although there have been large strides in HIV point of care diagnostics and therapeutics since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, the international spread of HIV continues at a rate of more than 14,000 new infections every day, and AIDS remains the fourth leading cause of death globally (WHO). Therefore, the need for an effective vaccine and other methods to inhibit the infection and spread of HIV remain critical.
As the program incumbent, ABL’s scientists have been working towards the development of an effective HIV vaccine, serving as the collaborative bridge between the some of the field’s most innovative investigators and the clinic. Since being involved in some of the ground-breaking initial research on the discovery and characterization of the HIV virus, the product development approach has been refined by ABL’s highly integrated teams providing comprehensive product development planning and addressing new concepts in vaccine design.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with DAIDS on this contract developing and testing promising HIV vaccines,” said Dr. Thomas VanCott, ABL’s President and CEO and Principal Investigator on the contract. “We believe this Preclinical Development Support contract will play an important role in transitioning the next phase of innovative ideas from the bench to the clinic. The entire ABL team is involved in this contract, and we share NIAID’s continued and strong dedication to identify and develop an effective HIV vaccine in the coming years of this contract.”
Maryland’s Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett contributed, “I congratulate ABL on winning the important support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. Much remains to be done in order to control, and eventually eradicate, the HIV virus. This is literally a matter of life and death and ABL is on the front lines of this critical battle.”
About ABL
ABL, Inc. is a global biomedical contract research and manufacturing organization dedicated to advancing therapeutics, vaccines and other biologic products. ABL has extensive experience working with diverse organizations including industry, government and academic entities. ABL maintains GMP facilities meeting U.S. and European regulatory standards, providing process and assay development, cGMP manufacturing of bulk drug substance, cGMP aseptic fill and finish of drug product, and QC bioanalytical testing. Our U.S. and European immunological and molecular laboratories support clients’ preclinical and GCLP clinical sample processing and testing needs. ABL is a part of the Institut Mérieux, a group of companies dedicated to developing translational science for better patient care globally.
For more information visit www.ablinc.com or contact us.
