ATCC's High Containment Facility Renovations in Support of NIAID and Pandemic Preparedness

Project Summary:
The proposed project aims to renovate ATCC's High Containment Facility (HCF) at the American
Type Culture Collection (ATCC) in Manassas, Virginia. ATCC's 7,500 ft2 biocontainment facility
was built in 2007 with funding from NIAID and has been dedicated to developing infectious
disease strains and reagents needed to rapidly advance diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics
against priority pathogens. Since 2003, ATCC has partnered with NIAID to centralize and provide
critical scientific resources through the Biodefense and Emerging Infections Resources (BEI
Resources) program. The NIAID established BEI Resources to provide the global research
community with reagents, tools, and information for studying Category A, B, and C priority
pathogens, emerging infectious disease agents, and other microbiological materials relevant to
human health. Over the past 18 years, ATCC has provided over 1,360,000 reagents to over
14,000 investigators at 3,740 institutions in 119 countries spanning over 500 human pathogens
in NIAID's priority portfolio. During this period, BEI Resources has provided critical materials for
vital disease outbreaks, including H1N1, MERS, Ebola, and Zika. Over the past two years, ATCC
has rapidly created more than 690 SARS-CoV-2 products; acquired, produced, and authenticated
more than 165 stocks of SARS-CoV-2 for both general research and challenge studies; and
shipped more than 86,000 research reagents to over 2,800 researchers in more than 70 countries
for the development of countermeasures and basic research. The material provided by BEI
Resources has been cited in more than 1,800 SARS-CoV-2 publications since February of 2020.
In addition, ATCC has fostered collaboration and partnerships across NIAID programs and
external working groups to share resources, information, and data to accelerate discoveries and
harmonize scientific approaches for pandemic response and preparedness.
ATCC's high containment facility houses laboratories essential for BSL-3 and Select Agent
infectious disease research, product development, and large-scale reagent production for the
research community. This proposal aims to renovate and upgrade the HVAC, decontamination,
and security systems. The renovations also include upgrades to fixed equipment and interior
finishing in the facility. The renovations will modernize the facility for use by 40 Ph.D. ATCC
scientists, collaborators, and laboratory support staff. The products and services developed in the
facility will support thousands of scientists globally each year to prepare and respond to
pandemics. ATCC is seeking this opportunity for engagement with the NIAID to invest in this
facility which has been foundational for the nation's pandemic response and preparedness.

Grant Number: 1G20AI174721-01
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Rebecca Bradford