ATCC, a leading organization in biological materials management and standards, has announced the receipt of a C06 Research Facilities Construction Grant from the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant will fund the development of a new biomanufacturing suite at ATCC’s headquarters in Manassas, Virginia. The facility, which broke ground on September 12, will be equipped to respond rapidly to infectious disease outbreaks by providing high-throughput production of high-quality virus stocks and reagents for the NIH. These materials will support the biomedical research community in accelerating the development and evaluation of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for public health, particularly in cases of epidemic or pandemic threats.
“ATCC is one of the few non-academic institutions to receive this grant in the past decade,” said Raymond H. Cypess, DVM, PhD, ATCC chairman and CEO. “With only a small percentage of proposals securing funding, this is a significant achievement for both our organization and the global research community. The new biomanufacturing suite will provide researchers with the resources they need to respond swiftly to pandemics and outbreaks while also bringing biomanufacturing capabilities back to the U.S.”
The grant will support the design, construction, and commissioning of a cutting-edge biomanufacturing facility. This facility will offer critical biological manufacturing services in the biomedical field, accelerating translational research for vaccines and therapeutics, and providing essential biological standards for developing diagnostic assays. Researchers will have access to large-scale stocks of well-characterized biomaterials at no cost.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, requests for biomaterials have surged dramatically,” said Rebecca Bradford, MBA, MS, vice president of government programs at ATCC Federal Solutions. “We pursued this grant because it was clear that the existing biomedical manufacturing infrastructure needed expansion to meet the growing research demands. Additionally, preparedness efforts have advanced research for other pathogens with pandemic potential. This new facility will allow us to continue supporting NIH’s public health initiatives by offering standardized biomaterials to ensure consistency and reproducibility in the development and evaluation of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, and countermeasures.”
About ATCC
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 headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, with research and technology centers of excellence in Gaithersburg and Germantown, Maryland.
