This contract was awarded for the purpose of supporting two other NICHD contacts which collect serum from women and children. Biotech provides shipment and storage of sera collected by the clinical centers involved in the Vaginal Infection ad Prematurity study as well as the Intravenous Gammaglobulin clinical trial. Sera_are shipped from the clinical centers, using prepaid overnight labels provided by Biotech, received at Biotech, inventoried and stored at -70 degrees centigrade. Sera from both studies are to be used to detect antibodies to various microorganisms and other biochemical markers related to disease progression. Long term storage is necessary to collect sufficient samples for analysis. The award of a four year contract to Biotech will allow us to complete collection of sera in both studies at which time processing and continuing storage will occur.
