NIH boosts its clinical core

The National Institutes of Health is upgrading its drug development and manufacturing facility -- new location, new equipment, same mission -- to "help move ideas from the laboratory bench to the patient faster and better," said John Gallin, director of the NIH Clinical Center. Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research CenterImage: National Institutes of HealthAs I toured the new $12 million, over 1,000 square meter facility today (March 25), I meandered through room after room of new, top of the lin

Written byJef Akst
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share
The National Institutes of Health is upgrading its drug development and manufacturing facility -- new location, new equipment, same mission -- to "help move ideas from the laboratory bench to the patient faster and better," said John Gallin, director of the NIH Clinical Center.
Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center
Image: National Institutes of Health
As I toured the new $12 million, over 1,000 square meter facility today (March 25), I meandered through room after room of new, top of the line equipment, high quality air filters, and easily cleanable epoxy flooring -- all aimed to better meet the US Food and Drug Administration's standards of good manufacturing practice (GMP). My tour comes just a few weeks after the NIH and FDA linkurl:announced a collaboration;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57174/ to increase efforts in translational and regulatory science. While the timing of the new partnership is purely "coincidental," Gallin said, the NIH did consult with the FDA during the designing of the new facility and plans to invite the agency to inspect it. "If it's not up to snuff," Gallin said, "we'll fix it." The Clinical Center (CC) currently hosts about 1,500 clinical research studies, about half of which are clinical trials in phase I or phase II. A lot of the CC's work focuses on rare diseases that industry tends to shy away from because they don't have a big market. The center also investigates the possibility that existing drugs, often donated by the pharmaceutical companies that own them, could be used to treat other diseases. In both cases, "our hope would always be that we pass the baton on to industry after we get over that so-called valley of death," Gallin said -- the gap between when the basic research is finished and when industry sees enough potential in a drug candidate to warrant starting a development program. The transition to the new facility is currently scheduled for early June.
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:Regulatory science gets boost;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57174/
[24th February 2010]*linkurl:Paying for Patients;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/54196/
[February 2008]*linkurl:Bringing Cancer Science to the Bedside;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/52976/
[April 2007]
Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.

    View Full Profile
Share
Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Conceptual multicolored vector image of cancer research, depicting various biomedical approaches to cancer therapy

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

bioxcell

Products

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies

Parse Logo

Parse Biosciences and Graph Therapeutics Partner to Build Large Functional Immune Perturbation Atlas

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological's Launch of SwiftFluo® TR-FRET Kits Pioneers a New Era in High-Throughout Kinase Inhibitor Screening

SPT Labtech Logo

SPT Labtech enables automated Twist Bioscience NGS library preparation workflows on SPT's firefly platform