By The Hill staff - 05/18/16 06:35 PM EDT
The Department of Education’s Every Student, Every Day National Conference cost an estimated $43,786. That cost, paid to the Hilton DoubleTree hotel in Crystal City, Va., included the rental of equipment and audio/visual gear, in addition to rooms for 14 speakers. While the agency was soliciting bids from venues, it emphasized a capped budget for certain items. “The Department has a limited food and beverage budget. We encourage reduced pricing and special food and beverage discounted menus,” documents say.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is investing in the development of preventative vaccines for HIV “for worldwide use to end the AIDS epidemic.” To that end, the NIH has funded two seven-year research efforts, awarding $4.22 million to Profectus BioSciences and $17.3 million to the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Although several HIV vaccines have gone through Phase I clinical trials, the agency says, only three have made it to efficacy testing. Taking a “staged development approach” allows the agency to “quickly advance vaccine candidates into … manufacturing for testing in clinical trials.” Overall, the NIH expects to award four to six contracts.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased $27,500 in vaccines for prairie dogs to be administered to animals in national forests in Montana. It’s part of a larger effort to conserve the rare black-footed ferret, which preys primarily on the prairie dogs and uses their tunnels for shelter. Prairie dogs are susceptible to the sylvatic plague — a highly contagious disease that is able to kill entire colonies of the animals. Colorado Serum Company won the contract.
Contract information compiled from General Services Administration data and government press releases. Send announcements about government contracts to [email protected].
