Alexandria, Va.-based Campbell & Company, and its team of six firms, is among 25 vendors selected to handle communications and support assignments for the National Institutes of Health.

The NIH conducted a lengthy review process for the pact capped at $500M over five years and known as an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract, which lets the federal agency tap firms from the pool as needed for assignments.

Campbell & Co., which specializes in reaching women and multicultural audiences, teamed with Ketchum, BlackBear Communications (Native American outreach), Alan Newman Research, Elevacion (Hispanic advertising), The Jay Group (logistics) and LCG Systems (IT).

Campbell president Wendy Campbell said the firm looks forward to helping the NIH continue to tackle “some of the nation’s most pressing health conditions, emphasizing those that disproportionately affect multicultural audiences.”

Other communications firms making the NIH cut included St. Louis-based Banyan, Walham, Mass.-based Cadmus, Reingold (Alexandria, Va.), Kauffman & Assocs. (Silver Spring, Md.) and Capital Consulting Corp. (Rockville, Md.).

Hager Sharp filed a protest after the contracts were initially awarded but the Government Accountability Office dismissed that action in October.

The NIH, which has an annual budget of $30B, draws from its pool of 25 firms in four categories: communications/outreach; graphic design/web/database support; materials development and distribution, and exhibit support.