SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Biodefense and Emerging Infections Research Resources Program
- Notice Date
- 11/6/2002
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Contract Management Branch 6700 B Rockledge Room 2230 MSC7612, Bethesda, MD, 20892-7605
- ZIP Code
- 20892-7605
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-SS-NIH-NIAID-DMID-03-34
- Archive Date
- 11/30/2002
- Point of Contact
- Janet Mattson, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-496-0993, Fax 301-480-5253, - Jacqueline Holden, Senior Contracting Officer, Phone 301-496-7119, Fax 301-402-0972,
- E-Mail Address
-
jm32u@nih.gov, jh55b@nih.gov
- Description
- The Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), is seeking capability statements from organizations with technical expertise and facilities to support NIAID in achieving its goal of providing unique and quality assured biodefense-related reagents and resources to the scientific community. DMID is seeking a contractor to acquire, authenticate/validate, expand, store and distribute state-of-the-art biodefense research and reference reagents, standardized panels and to provide current information through print and electronic media to facilitate research and product development for biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. Additionally, the BRP will collect information about biodefense-related reagents and standards and will disseminate this information through print, electronic media, and workshops; enhance technology transfer through development and publication of methods; and facilitate commercial development of reagents through proactive communication with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. It is anticipated that that the BRP will become the Federal governments national resource and clearinghouse for specimens, reagents, and information on these organisms. This is a new effort; there is no incumbent. This critical contract will identify, acquire and produce clones of NIAID Category A, B & C Priority Pathogens http://www.niaid.nih.gov/dmid/biodefense/bandc_priority.htm, emerging infectious disease agents http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/eid.htm and reagents that are not readily available. The contractor shall be required to: (1) provide for quality control for production and expansion of all agents and reagents, including, but not limited to, strain typing and validation, and appropriate biological, biochemical and chemical assays; (2) provide storage, processing facilities and resources to receive, handle, propagate, vial, label and store potentially hazardous organisms and reagents, and maintain their activity or viability under Biosafety Level 2 and 3 (BSL2 and 3) containment; (3) establish and implement a system to oversee and manage the distribution of CDC category A, B & C Agents (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Agentlist.asp that complies with all Federal and State regulations governing access, distribution, transport and use of such agents; (4) establish a system to verify that all Investigators and Institutions requesting agents or reagents are in compliance with the requirements of the Patriot Act (USA Patriot Act: Sec. 817. Expansion of Biological Weapons Statute http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/lawsregs/patriot.pdf; (5) ship and receive reagents, (6) obtain appropriate licenses, permits and certifications required by local, State and Federal authorities for handling of Category A-C Agents; (7) provide for safe packaging, shipping and distribution of reagents and drugs to eligible research investigators in the U.S. and abroad so that such shipments are coordinated for timely receipt; (8) utilize a secure package tracking system to insure that all materials are delivered to the intended recipient; (9) disseminate public information concerning reagent availability using electronic and print media, (10) develop and maintain an electronic Web-based reagent ordering /donating system, LISTSERV news groups and electronic bulletin board; (11) provide biodefense resource program support to develop and expand access to reagents; (12) provide support for BRP-sponsored workshops; (13) provide and maintain a PC compatible inventory and distribution database and management system, including the capability to read and generate bar-coded labels in different formats, alphanumeric and colored bar codes; (14) ensure protection against data loss by duplication of database files and programs in an off-site location; and (15) provide for the security and safety of data on the reagents and information related to the evaluation and use of the reagents. The contractor must have the capacity and capability to work with NIAID Category A, B & C Priority Pathogens and emerging infectious disease agents. Personnel assigned to this project must be bonded and meet all Federal Regulations, registrations and requirements for access to and handling of CDC Category A-C Agents. This includes the requirements of the Patriot Act and access to Select Agents (Appendix A to Part 72, CFR 42, http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/lrsat/p54605.pdf). Shipping personnel shall have Federal certification to package and ship Category A-C Agents. The contractor shall obtain the appropriate licenses and permits required by local, state, federal and international authorities for the safe import/export, storage and distribution and transportation of reagents, drugs, biohazardous agents and/or radioactive materials and drugs. It will be necessary to maintain a high degree of physical and electronic security for the facility and all computer systems. This new contract will be awarded as a cost-reimbursement contract with the emphasis being on the contractors ability to provide storage, processing facilities and associated resources. This includes, but is not limited to, providing, maintaining and operating facilities for the storage of bulk and packaged reagents (an estimated total of 185,000 samples during the term of the contract) at 2 to 8 degrees, at minus 10 to minus 20 degrees C, at minus 70 to minus 90 degrees C, and liquid nitrogen conditions. The contractor shall supply uninterruptible power to accommodate refrigerators/freezer and other equipment. Equipment and freezers must be connected to a central alarm system with 24 hr monitoring. An auxiliary power generator capable of operating all storage equipment, security systems and computers for 48 hrs must be available. The contractor shall provide, maintain and operate surveillance systems to assure that stored materials remain accessible only to authorized personnel. This shall include utilizing state-of-the-art electronic security systems with fail secure locking hardware to insure controlled access to all designated repository areas. In addition, provide, maintain and operate computer procedures to track and catalog, at prime and subcontractor locations, all reagents and stores of the NIAID Category A, B & C Priority Pathogens and emerging infectious disease agents and materials related to these agents. Also it will be necessary to provide a separate, locked, electronic-controlled restricted-access storage space at the appropriate temperature for hallucinogens, narcotics and any other reagent designated by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a dangerous and/or controlled substance compounds. The capability statement must address the requirements in sufficient detail so that technical approach, including initial reagent management, production and quality control; ability to provide contract management, including start up, facility operations and transition, inventory control and distribution may be evaluated. It is anticipated that the period of performance for this contract will be a total of seven years with an estimated level-of-effort of 29,120 labor hours per year. Interested Small Business organizations should submit two (2) copies of their capability statement addressing each of the areas cited above. See Numbered Note 25. No collect calls will be accepted. No facsimile transmissions will be accepted. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND DOES NOT COMMIT THE GOVERNMENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. BASED ON CAPABILITY STATEMENTS RECEIVED FROM THIS SOURCES SOUGHT, THIS ACQUISITION MAY BE SOLICITED AS A 100% SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE, NAICS CODE 541710, WITH A SIZE STANDARD OF 500 EMPLOYEES.
- Record
- SN00200687-W 20021108/021106213231 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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