Texas Biomedical Research Institute

Texas Biomedical Research Institute is an independent nonprofit research institute in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1941 and operating from a single 200-acre campus with more than 360 staff.^[S2] It is not a conventional contract research organization, and the difference matters for how a sponsor engages with it. Two capabilities set it apart: it holds what it describes as the only privately owned biosafety level 4 laboratory in the United States,^[S3] and it hosts the Southwest National Primate Research Center, which it describes as the only National Primate Research Center with on-site access to BSL-4 containment.^[S4] This profile summarizes those capabilities, how commercial sponsors can contract work, and the institute's stated compliance information.

Containment and the primate center

The institute states that its biosafety level 4 laboratory is the only privately owned facility of its kind in the United States.^[S3] BSL-4 containment is required for work with agents such as filoviruses for which there is no available vaccine or therapy, and very few sites worldwide can host it. The Southwest National Primate Research Center is one of the National Primate Research Centers and holds more than 2,500 non-human primates; the institute describes it as the only such center with on-site access to BSL-4 containment.^[S4] For a sponsor developing a medical countermeasure that requires non-human primate studies under high containment, the combination of the two on one campus is the practical reason to approach this institute rather than a commercial CRO.

How a commercial sponsor engages

Two routes are described. The Applied Science and Innovation group handles fee-for-service work, contract research and licensing for commercial partners.^[S5] Separately, work involving the primate center is requested through the center's own application process.^[S4] Because the institute is a nonprofit whose primary business is its own research programs, sponsors should expect the engagement model, timelines and intellectual property terms to differ from those of a commercial CRO, and should raise those points early.

Quality, compliance, and animal welfare (as stated by the institute)

The institute states AAALAC accreditation held since 1973, annual inspection by the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and adherence to Public Health Service policy.^[S6] One wording point: that page names the Office for Human Research Protections rather than the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare in connection with the PHS policy. OHRP oversees human subjects research; the office responsible for laboratory animal welfare assurances is OLAW.^[R5] The statement is quoted as published, and the discrepancy is noted rather than corrected silently. AAALAC International accreditation is a voluntary evaluation of an institution's animal care and use program, re-evaluated every three years,^[R3] and USDA registration and an OLAW Animal Welfare Assurance relate to the Animal Welfare Act and the PHS Policy respectively;^[R4][R5] none of these establishes GLP compliance, which applies to individual studies.^[R2] FDA does not approve or certify laboratories; registration with FDA does not denote approval.^[R6] This profile does not evaluate the institute's animal care program; the statements above are its own.

GLP. A defense-related press release from July 2026 refers to GLP and FDA-facing work.^[S7] No GLP statement was found on the service pages themselves, so a sponsor needing a GLP study should confirm the scope, the governing regulation and the quality assurance arrangements directly.^[R2]

Institute facts