Biologics Regulation and ResearchThe People and Work of Buildings 29 & 29A

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In 1960, Building 29 was at the edge of the NIH Bethesda Campus. As see in the aerial below, the parking lot to the north of the building, and the parking garage that is today to the south of the building were not yet constructed. By 1975 (see aerial below), additional buildings had been built near Building 29 and 29A, expanding the campus south and west. There were parking lots to the north and south of Buildings 29 and 29A, as well as an expanded sidewalk system for pedestrian circulation. In the wake of September 11, 2001, Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, as Acting Director of NIH, would oversee the establishment of a variety of security measures such as installation of the Bethesda campus perimeter fence with more regulated access to the campus. Prior to this, the sprawling campus had been more open to the public and nearby residents, like a college or university campus. By 2014, the NIH campus had expanded even more, as seen in the aerial below. Building 29B was constructed from 1993 to 1994 to serve as additional space for biologics regulation staff (now part of the FDA CBER). Building 29B was connected to 29A via pedestrian bridge, much like Building 29A was connected to Building 29. The FDA CBER left the NIH campus in 2014, moving to the FDA White Oak Campus and leaving Buildings 29 and 29A vacant. Until 2014, Buildings 29, 29A, and 29B represented the only facilities, not just on the NIH campus but in the entire United States, that have functioned since their construction for the primary purpose of regulating biologics.

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Justifying the request, Shannon stated that, “Although laboratory testing space, including quarters for experimental animals, appeared adequate with the move in 1961 to the new Biologics Standards Building, requirements for new programs in 1962, particularly live polio virus vaccine and measles vaccine have increased considerably” (House Committee on Appropriations, Hearings on H.R. 1916, 87th Congress, 2nd Session, 936). NIH quantified the growth in a prepared statement, stating that, “In the past five or six years the importance of biologics control and its role in the future development of preventive and therapeutic medicines has continually grown until in 1962 the program is approximately three and one-half times larger than when the Congress authorized the construction of the first Biologics Standards Building in 1956” (Senate Committee on Appropriations, Hearings on S. 1514, 87th Congress, 2nd Session, 1962, 474).

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