WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary BBI Biotech (Gaithersburg, MD) has been awarded a five-year, $10.3 million contract from the National Cancer Institute for the processing and storage of biological specimens to support cancer studies. Under the terms of this contract, BBI Biotech will be responsible for the processing and preservation of biologic materials including blood products, tissues, and other biological specimens for long-term storage; the distribution of samples to collaborating investigators; the maintenance of the existing specimen repository of over 2.3 million samples; the evaluation and piloting of new technologies germane to the contract mission; and the management of information on the quality, quantity and location of specimens for the biorepository and bioprocessing laboratories.
"BBI Biotech has provided research support under many NIH sponsored contracts and grants for a number of years, and has been the incumbent on the NCI repository contract since 1982," said Dr. Mark Cosentino, Group Director of Cell Biology at BBI Biotech and Principle Investigator for the NCI contract. "We are particularly pleased that the NCI has chosen to award Boston Biomedica this contract, not only because it is much broader in its scientific and technical scope than the contract that just ended, but also because we see the re-award as confirmation of the NCI's assessment of our strengths and capabilities in the area of cellular and molecular biology and our proactive repository management style."
Richard T. Schumacher, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Boston Biomedica, added: "The work associated with this contract complements and further strengthens our active cell biology and quality control programs in specimen preservation, stability, storage and shipment. In addition, since a majority of investigators associated with this contract are involved in molecular epidemiology, BBI Biotech will also be afforded the opportunity to evaluate new technology and procedures associated with specimen processing, such as nucleic acid extraction, which concomitantly supports our Company's molecular diagnostics focus."
Schumacher continued: "Finally, this contract award is quite significant because it is an important part of our strategic plan, a plan that calls for the Company to return to profitability before the end 2001."
Boston Biomedica, Inc. provides products and services for the detection and monitoring of infectious diseases such as AIDS and Viral Hepatitis. BBI has three operating business units: (1) BBI Diagnostics, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer and supplier of quality control and diagnostics reagents used to increase the accuracy of in vitro diagnostic tests, (2) BBI Biotech Research Laboratories, a research and development center providing R&D support for the other BBI business units, as well as contract research and repository services for the government, industry and other third parties, and (3) BBI Source Scientific, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer of diagnostic instrumentation and medical devices. In addition, BBI is conducting research and development in Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) through its subsidiary BBI BioSeq, with the goal of introducing new solutions for a number of important healthcare issues, including: inactivation of pathogens in human plasma, sample preparation in molecular diagnostics and proteomics, food safety, and genomics. BBI also maintains a passive investment in Panacos Pharmaceuticals, a privately held antiviral drug and vaccine development company recently spun- off from BBI, whose goal is to introduce new solutions for the 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 might cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements contained herein include the following: there can be no assurance that this contract may lead to additional NIH grants or contracts in the future or that the opportunity to evaluate new technology and procedures in specimen processing will occur. Also, due to difficulties in the implementation of its strategies, Boston Biomedica may not be able to return to profitability in 2001. 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 Boston Biomedica's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K (as amended) for the year ended December 31, 2000, Form 8-K filed March 8, 2001, Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2001, and in the Company's Registration Statements on Form S-3 (Reg. No. 333-46426 and Reg. No. 333-94379). Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
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SOURCE Boston Biomedica, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.bbii.com
CONTACT: Richard T. Schumacher, CEO & Chairman, or Kevin W. Quinlan, President & COO of Boston Biomedica, Inc., 508-580-1900
