ABL Awarded NIH Contract for Continued Support of HIV Vaccine Development

ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced BioScience Laboratories (ABL), a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) for biotherapies, oncolytics and viral vector vaccines, announced it has been awarded a contract for "Preclinical and translational vaccine development for HIV and other candidate agents" by the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

According to the WHO, there are over 38 million individuals living with HIV worldwide. The development of a safe and efficacious HIV-1 vaccine remains one of the highest priorities of the NIAID. The purpose of this contract is to support the full range of activities for preclinical and translational support services from initial product discovery through full (CGMP) manufacturing and readiness for clinical trials and/or product licensure.

The seven-year contract has a total potential funding value of $364.5 million. ABL will provide DAIDS with preclinical and translational development of promising vaccines and related products for HIV and other candidate agents. ABL will provide its portfolio of services that includes feasibility studies, process and assay development, cGMP production, safety and efficacy studies, and product release and stability testing. 

ABL's scientists have been supporting NIAIDs mission since the 1980s. The work started from co-discovery of HIV-1 and its characterization as the etiology of AIDS, to the development of the first diagnostic HIV-1 blood test (1984). Since then, ABL has been actively involved in ground-breaking research to detail the pathogenesis of HIV and develop therapeutics and vaccines against HIV. While drugs have allowed infected individuals to live with HIV, a vaccine is recognized as key to truly end the epidemic.

"We look forward to continuing to serve as the collaborative bridge between DAIDS and the most innovative investigators in the field supporting DAIDS's mission to prevent, treat, and cure HIV," said Timothy Fouts, Vice President of Innovation at ABL Inc.

ABL, Inc. is a global contract research and manufacturing organization dedicated to advancing therapeutics, vaccines and other biological products. ABL has extensive experience working with diverse organizations including industry, government and academic entities. ABL maintains global GMP facilities meeting U.S. and European regulatory standards, providing manufacturing capabilities for the development and production of virus-based oncolytic therapies, gene therapies and viral vaccines. Our services include bulk drug substance, live virus fill/finish, process and assay development. We also support clients' preclinical and clinical sample processing and testing needs through our immunological laboratories. ABL is a part of the Institut Mérieux, a group of companies dedicated to developing translational science for better patient care globally.
www.ablinc.com

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 www.nih.gov.

SOURCE ABL, Inc.