SeraCare Life Sciences Inc. won a pair of new HIV research contracts from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health and renewed a third NIH contract for a combined $10.8 million.
The Mildford, Mass.-based service provider said the new, five-year, $3.6 million CDC contract is part of the agency’s HIV-1 Rapid Test Proficiency Program. SeraCare will distribute HIV-I positive and negative blood plasma to the 650 labs participating in the study to help them assess the accuracy of their tests.
The new NIH contract, awarded by contract research organization PPD Inc., will see SeraCare collect, assort and distribute a portfolio of HIV strains. The 15-month, $2 million contract aims to help monitor and update blood screening and diagnostic assays for the virus in the search for vaccines.
Under the existing NIH contract with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Biologic Specimen Repository, SeraCare will help grow the repository and oversee quality control measures for AIDs and AIDs-related studies. The two-year contract is expanding by $5.2 million, taking its remaining value to $6.3 million.
SeraCare president and CEO Susan Vogt said the company believes the influx of federal stimulus money into government-sponsored research could mean more such contracts down the line.
SeraCare posted third-quarter sales of $11.8 million, down 5.4 percent compared with the same period last year. Net income rose to $700,000 for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $600,000 during the third quarter of 2008.