Battelle wins $500 million contract to manage new Ft. Detrick lab
National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center currently under construction; company receives base contract award of $250 million over five years, plus options; Battelle a major player in the lab management game
More good news for Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute and its National Biodefense Institute (BNBI). The firm has won a $500 million contract to manage and operate the new biodefense analysis center currently under construction at Fort Detrick, Maryland. As we have reported, the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center is intended to be a major locus point of government attention to anthrax, smallpox, and even more exotic diseases — though for that same reason has spurred controversy among those who do not wish pathogens, no matter how sfaely contained, in their neighborhood.
Under the agreement, BNBI will receive a base contract award of $250 million over five years, with five option years that could bring the projected award cost to $500 million. The new lab will comprise about 160,000 gross square feet of working area — approximatly the size of thirty-two large houses — and accommodate a staff of about 120. Biosafety level 2, 3 and 4 laboratory space, air-handling equipment, security controls, and other supporting facilities, are all included. “Upon completion in 2008, the NBACC will offer a safe and secure bio-containment laboratory space for biological threat characterizations and bio-forensics analyses,” DHS said.
-read more in this company news release
