WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) announced today that BBI Biotech Research Laboratories (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boston Biomedica) has been awarded a seven year $9.6 million specimen repository contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Division of AIDS (DAIDS).
The specimen repository will support a variety of AIDS related studies including those on HIV prevention, transmission, vaccine and therapeutics. Under this contract, BBI Biotech will provide a broad range of repository related activities including securing, cataloging, processing, storing, and disbursing clinical specimens from HIV-infected patients, cohort participants, recipients of candidate HIV vaccines and participants in other biomedical intervention studies sponsored by DAIDS. Specimens may include peripheral blood mononuclear cells, serum, plasma, tissues, and other bodily fluids. A computerized specimen inventory management system will be used to track all samples coming in from DAIDS collection sites throughout the US. BBI Biotech has extensive modern, state-of-the-art facilities for processing blood and other clinical samples and for providing secure storage of biological samples in -70o C or liquid nitrogen freezers as well as in other appropriate formats to ensure availability of high quality specimens for current and future NIAID sponsored studies.
"This contract represents a further expansion of our commitment to providing the NIH with repository and infectious diseases support services, fits in very well with our other contracts from the NIH and industry which provide a broad range of research support services to the U.S. infectious disease management programs, and again expresses the confidence that the NIH has in our facility and operations," said Dr. Mark M. Manak, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of BBI Biotech.
"Under the terms of this contract, we are required to develop and maintain a number of state-of-the-art tests and procedures useful in the area of infectious diseases detection, analysis, and storage," said Mr. Kevin W. Quinlan, President and COO of Boston Biomedica. "As they are developed, we intend to offer these new capabilities to clients in both government and industry, in an effort to increase revenue and market share in several very important areas of our core businesses."
Mr. Richard T. Schumacher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Boston Biomedica said: "This contract not only gives BBI Biotech additional credibility and recognition in the market of infectious disease management but also allows the Company to exploit our strategy of using relatively low margin government contracts to subsidize our research and development of higher margin new products for our customers."
Boston Biomedica, Inc. is an infectious diseases management company providing products and services for the detection and treatment of infectious diseases (ID) such as AIDS, Lyme Disease, and Viral Hepatitis. The Company has four business units: (1) BBI Diagnostics, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer and seller of quality control and other diagnostic products used to increase the accuracy of in-vitro diagnostic tests, (2) BBI Clinical Laboratories, a leading specialty infectious diseases testing laboratory, (3) BBI Biotech Research Laboratories, providing R&D support for the other BBI business units as well as contract research services for third parties, and (4) BBI Source Scientific, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer of laboratory and diagnostic instrumentation. In addition, the Company is pursuing research and development programs in the areas of pressure cycling technology (PCT) and drug discovery (Panacos Pharmaceuticals), with the goal of introducing new solutions for the detection and treatment of infectious diseases.
Statements contained in this news release that state the Company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are ``forward-looking'' statements. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those projected include the possibility that due to unforeseen technical and other difficulties Boston Biomedica may not be able to successfully maintain or administer the DAIDS repository contract which would then be transitioned to another contractor. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, June 30, and September 30, 1999. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
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CONTACT: Richard T. Schumacher, CEO and Chairman, or Kevin W. Quinlan, President & COO, or William R. Prather, M.D., Sr. VP Finance & Business Dvlp., Boston Biomedica, Inc., 508-580-1900 or fax, 508-580-1110