A Medical Device Daily
Charles River Laboratories International (Wilmington, Massachusetts) reported being awarded a 10-year, $111.6 million contract by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), doubling the size of its current contract with NCI. For the last 12 years, Charles River has provided onsite staffing support to NCI's Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center (FCRDC), and the new award expands that collaboration by converting the current onsite staffing contract into a long-term dedicated space agreement, it said.
Charles River said it will construct a shared-use facility to provide research model production and related services to NCI-FCRDC, addressing future research needs. The new facility will be constructed close to NCI-FCRDC's current operation in Frederick, Maryland, and Charles River said it expects construction to be completed in 2Q08.
Charles River will also assume responsibility for the management of the NCI/NIH Tumor and Natural Products Repositories, in support of the Developmental Therapeutics Program.
The project will be funded in whole or in part with federal funds from NCI, NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services.
In grant news:
• The MayaTech Corporation (Silver Spring, Maryland), a provider of consulting and technical services to federal agencies, has been awarded a contract by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta) to conduct an assessment of traumatic brain injury grantee programs funded through CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). MayaTech's evaluation will assist the Division of Injury Response in adhering to CDC's policy requiring all research programs to be peer reviewed.
Jean O'Connor, JD, MPH., deputy manager of MayaTech's Center for Health Policy and Legislative Analysis, will serve as project director of the research evaluation, which will begin immediately and be completed within one year.
In other contract news:
• Quick-Med Technologies () said it has received a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant of $770,000 from the U.S. Army, continuing its research to develop a prototype wound dressing for chemical blistering agent wounds.
The product being developed is based on the company's NIMBUS technology used to bind polymeric antimicrobial onto surfaces that include cellulosics such as cotton and rayon, as well as synthetics, enabling the preparation of high-performance wound dressings, fabrics and other medical and consumer products.
During Phase I of the grant, Quick-Med Technologies completed feasibility studies and proof of concept. The Phase II SBIR grant includes $40,000 of additional funding under a Phase I option. The total value of this contract for Phase I, Phase I option, and Phase II is $840,000. Work under this contract is expected to be completed by 2009.
Quick-Med's two core products under development are the NIMBUS, a technology employing advanced polymers that can be used in a wide range of applications, and MultiStat methods and compounds for key skin care therapy applications.