NIAID reports 'tremendous progress' in biodefens...( ional security: anthrax smallpox plag...),Health

The progress report outlines specific actions NIAID has taken to prepare bioterror countermeasures. For example, the Institute has developed more than 50 initiatives to stimulate biodefense research, three-quarters of which are brand new. Through these initiatives, NIAID has greatly expanded its support of investigators in academia and partnerships with industry. It has also created new biodefense resources, taken advantage of genomic research advances, and furthered understanding of how microbes cause disease and how the immune system responds to infection.

Highlights from the NIAID biodefense progress report include the following:

Partnerships in Product Development--In addition to awarding contracts for second-generation smallpox and anthrax vaccines, NIAID has expanded other collaborative opportunities with industry. For example, the NIAID Biodefense Partnerships program is a new mechanism by which the Institute encourages private-sector research and development of countermeasures. Through this program and a similar initiative that includes academia--Cooperative Research for the Development of Vaccines, Adjuvants, Therapeutics, Immunotherapeutics and Diagnostics for Biodefense and SARS--NIAID is funding 31 grants to companies to develop high-priority biodefense products. In addition to attracting more pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to infectious disease research, these awards will likely shorten the time from preclinical testing to commercialization of products.

Basic Research--NIAID recently awarded eight Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research. This nationwide network of multidisciplinary academic centers will conduct wide-ranging research on infectious diseases and the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. In addition, through partnerships with other agencies
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Contact: Linda Joy
linda.joy@nih.gov
301-402-1663
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
29-Sep-2003