SRI International Awarded National Institutes of Health Preclinical Services Contract

MENLO PARK, Calif., March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, announced today that it has been awarded a $20 million preclinical services contract by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health.  In this role, SRI will serve as a resource contractor for the preclinical development of new contraceptive drugs and devices for the NICHD's Contraception and Reproductive Health Branch.

"SRI's Biosciences Division is staffed by an experienced research team that is able to provide the full range of preclinical studies and formulation services needed to support NICHD's requirements for efficacy and safety," said Karen Steinmetz, Ph.D., director of mammalian toxicology, SRI Biosciences Division. "Our studies will help to ensure that new drugs and devices developed through the NICHD program have been screened to meet the stringent standards needed for worldwide regulatory submissions."

A major focus of SRI's efforts will be the smooth transition of multiple hits identified in early stage screening to later stage development activities, including studies that meet Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) regulatory requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For example, as lead compounds advance through drug development, SRI will create preclinical development plans to address their safety and testing requirements. The accumulated data will be gathered for documentation submitted to the FDA in support of regulatory applications.

This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN275200900014C.

About SRI's Biosciences Division

SRI's Biosciences division carries out basic research, drug discovery and drug development, and provides contract services. SRI has all of the resources necessary to take R&D from "idea to IND"®—from initial discovery to the start of human clinical trials—and specializes in cancer, immunology and inflammation, infectious disease and neuroscience. SRI's product pipeline has yielded marketed drugs, therapeutics currently in clinical trials, and additional programs in earlier stages. In its CRO business, SRI has helped government and other clients and partners advance well over 100 drugs into patient testing. SRI is also working to create the next generation of technologies in areas such as diagnostics, drug delivery, medical devices and systems biology.

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. SRI, which was founded by Stanford University as Stanford Research Institute in 1946 and became independent in 1970, has been meeting the strategic needs of clients and partners for more than 60 years. Perhaps best known for its invention of the computer mouse and interactive computing, SRI has also been responsible for major advances in networking and communications, robotics, drug discovery and development, advanced materials, atmospheric research, education research, economic development, national security, and more. The nonprofit institute performs sponsored research and development for government agencies, businesses, and foundations. SRI also licenses its technologies, forms strategic alliances, and creates spin-off companies. In 2009, SRI's consolidated revenues, including its wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, Sarnoff Corporation, were approximately $470 million.

SOURCE SRI International