President Barack Obama allocated $1.825 billion for H1N1 preparedness in July of 2009. Supporting vaccine development, testing, and planning, the funding comes from $7.65 in funding previously awarded to the Department of Health and Human Services by Congress for H1N1 pandemic response. H1N1 vaccine manufacturers for the United States include Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Baxter, and AstraZeneca.
The University of Wyoming broke ground in June of 2009 on a $24.9 million BSL-3 laboratory in Laramie. Located at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, the facility will support infectious disease research and testing. The laboratory will enable rapid diagnosis of disease agents affecting wildlife, herd animals, and humans. Completion is expected in 2011.
Building Protection Systems, Inc., (BPSI) of San Francisco has unveiled Building Sentry One, a real-time toxin-detection identification system designed to protect buildings and people inside of them from accidental or deliberate airborne chemical or radiological releases. Upon detection of a biohazard, the system automatically shuts down a building's air and ventilation system. The SAFETY ACT designation is one of less than forty given to new technologies in 2008. Former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Head Tom Ridge is acting as a senior advisor to the firm.
Construction of the 41,000-square-foot New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory at Tufts University is now complete.
Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development opened a $90,000 biosafety laboratory in Sebeta in May of 2009. The BSL-3 facility will be operated by the National Animal Health Diagnostic and Investigation Centre. Enabling the diagnosis of zoonotic and infectious diseases, the facility includes biosafety cabinets, a refrigerated micro-centrifuge, incubators, a thermo-mixer, and a PCR work station.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Health announced plans in May of 2009 to build a flu vaccine research and production facility. The laboratory will eventually manufacture a single human vaccine for swine and avian flu viruses. A flu vaccine laboratory is currently under construction at Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java. Construction began on a flu vaccine facility at the PT Biofarma campus in Bandung in May of 2009.
The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation opened its 9,000-sf vaccine manufacturing facility in Rockville, Md., in April of 2009. The project will support tuberculosis vaccine development and production, as well as research into aerosol vaccine formulations. The BSL-2 facility was built by general contractor Whiting-Turner of Baltimore.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is building the $105 million Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. Housing BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4 laboratories for select agent and infectious disease research, the IRF will provide 11,125-sf of secure research space for 30 investigators. The building will feature PET, CT, MRI, and X-ray scanners to study the effects of infectious diseases on primates. The construction manager for the project is Gilbane Building Company.
NanoLogix began construction on a manufacturing facility for bacteria and pathogen test kits in April of 2009. Located at NanoLogix’s headquarters in Hubbard, Ohio, the 2,800-sf project will include a production cleanroom and a cold storage vault. The BNP™ Ultra-Fast test kits will be used to detect agents such as anthrax, bubonic plague, e-coli, salmonella, listeria, and enterobacter.
Idaho Technology celebrated the opening of its new $8.5 million R&D facility in Salt Lake City in April of 2009. Located in the University of Utah Research Park, the 41,000-sf project houses laboratories for the development of infectious disease and biological warfare testing solutions. Clinical trials will begin in mid-2009 on the technology, which will be released as kits for the detection of viruses, bacteria, and select agents in 2010.
Tufts University dedicated the $33.7 million New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory on March 30, 2009. Sited on 5.4 acres in North Grafton, Mass., the 41,000-sf project provides 649-sf of BSL-2 space and 8,480-sf of BSL-3 space for zoonotic disease research. The secure facility was designed by Flad Architects and includes laboratories, a vivarium, an insectary, and support space. Construction began on the laboratory in September of 2007.
Washington State University’s Board of Regents approved the schematic design for the $35 million School for Global Animal Health in Pullman, Wash., in late March of 2009. The 47,000-sf facility will be sited adjacent to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and will accommodate 12 to 15 scientists. Housing research laboratories for the study of zoonotic diseases, emerging pathogen detection, and vaccine development, the facility is funded in part by a $25 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Fraunhofer USA has selected Nason Construction as the construction manager for a bird flu vaccine plant in Wilmington, Del. Located in Delaware Technology Park, the 14,000-sf GMP facility will support research and manufacturing of plant-based avian influenza vaccine. The project is supported by funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Completion is expected in fall of 2009.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is partnering with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, to construct a $20 million HIV and tuberculosis research facility. Integrated with the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute at Nelson Mandela Medical School, the six-story facility will include two floors of high level biocontainment laboratories.
The Department of Homeland Security issued its Request for Proposals (RFP) for preliminary construction bids on the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in March of 2009. The Department will hold a Pre-proposal Conference for general contractors at 9 a.m. on April 7 in the student union auditorium at Kansas State University. The first construction phase of the NBAF, the nation’s leading plant and animal health laboratory, is estimated at $523 million. The total project investment will be $650 million.
