ATCC Announces Comprehensive and Rapid Response to NIAID Research Programs (CARRRP) Award from NIAID

ATCC, the world’s premier biological materials management and standards organization, today announced that it has been awarded a Task Order under an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Task Order is part of the Storage Facility Task Area under the Comprehensive and Rapid Response to NIAID Research Programs (CARRRP).

NIAID’s CARRRP provides the capacity and capability for a broad range of services necessary to support and conduct comprehensive and rapid biomedical research. Under the CARRRP Task Order, ATCC will manage critical biomaterials for the Vaccine Research Center (VRC), one of the three intramural divisions of NIAID’s Intramural Research Program (IRP). The mission of the VRC is to conduct research that facilitates the development of effective vaccines for human disease.

For more than 60 years, NIAID’s research has led to new therapies, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and other technologies to improve human health. Developing and introducing new therapeutic products against potential agents of bioterrorism, drug-resistant pathogens, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and infectious diseases prevalent in resource-limited countries remains a high public health priority. There is also an immediate need for more efficient and faster response times to these outbreaks.

“We have learned from outbreaks, such as Zika, Ebola, and COVID-19, that the threat to domestic and global public health from infectious diseases is ongoing,” said ATCC chairman and CEO Raymond H. Cypess, DVM, PhD. “With this new award, ATCC will provide rapid response capabilities to these issues and provide NIAID with quality services across basic science, preclinical, clinical, assay development, and vaccine production.”

Under Task Order Area E, ATCC will provide a centralized quality-assured repository for the acquisition, authentication, storage, inventory, and distribution of a broad range of NIAID materials used for vaccine research. These materials may include (1) unique, irreplaceable research specimens from pre-clinical or clinical studies; (2) clinical trial materials, including cGMP inventory or other reagents, and/or (3) other materials generated by or required for NIAID research. Products, such as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and/or formulations, pathogens, specimens, and reagents, will be stored and available for shipping to laboratories, contractors, and product sponsors working to advance promising candidates from the laboratory to the clinic.

“Our goal, as we assume management of the VRC’s critical biomaterials, is to provide the NIAID and scientific community with the resources and capabilities they need for vaccine research and to respond rapidly and efficiently to emerging and re-emerging disease threats, both domestic and foreign,” said Rebecca Bradford, MBA, MS, vice president of Government Programs within ATCC Federal Solutions. “We look forward to working with NIAID and its Intramural Research Program as part of the CARRRP.”

ATCC is a premier global biological materials and information resource and standards organization and the leading developer and supplier of authenticated cell lines, microorganisms, and associated data for academia, industry, and government. With a history of scientific contributions spanning nearly a century, ATCC offers an unmatched combination of being the world’s largest and most diverse collection of biological reference materials and data, and is a mission-driven, trusted partner that supports and encourages scientific collaboration. ATCC products, services, partnerships, and people provide the global scientific community with credible, advanced, model systems to support complex research and innovations in basic science, drug discovery, translational medicine, and public health. ATCC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with headquarters in Manassas, Virginia, and a research and technology center of excellence in Gaithersburg, Maryland. 

Contact: Kim Testa, senior director, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, ATCC, [email protected]