The $250 million contract award includes a five-year period of performance, with the potential for five subsequent one-year extensions, bringing the projected award value to $500 million. The NBACC, scheduled to open in 2008, will be the nation's premier research facility for biological threat characterization and bioforensic research. BNBI is the limited liability company formed by Battelle to manage the lab. During the two years prior to completion of the new facility, BNBI will manage ongoing NBACC work from an office in Frederick, MD.
The lab, which will employ approximately 120 people, is under construction in Frederick, Maryland at Fort Detrick. The 160,000-square-foot facility will become part of the biodefense campus that includes the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).
Battelle, a research and technology development organization, has a long history of innovations across a wide array of scientific disciplines including research in countermeasures to chemical and biological weapons. Battelle also manages or co-manages five national laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy.
The NBACC's mission is to protect human health and agriculture against biological terrorism by improving understanding of potential bioterrorism threats.
"We're proud to have been selected to operate this lab. The NBACC mission is a critical part of our nation's security," said Battelle president and CEO Carl Kohrt. "The NBACC lab represents a new approach to integrating national resources for homeland security in support of public health, law enforcement, and national security."
The BNBI management team is led by laboratory director Patrick Fitch, Battelle VP for Biodefense Programs, who has more than 20 years of experience leading national defense and other scientific research programs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Battelle is the world's largest non-profit independent research and development organization, with 20,000 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including five national laboratories Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle conducts $3.7 billion in R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management, and technology commercialization.
