BDR Contracts Section, COB, DEA, NHLBI 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC C 7902, Bethesda, MD 20892-7902

A -- MAINTENANCE OF NHLBI BIOLOGICAL SPECIMEN REPOSITORY SOL RFP NHLBI HB-98-04 POC Joann A. Ciufolo, Contracting Officer, 301-435-0359 The Blood Resources Program of the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute (NHLBI) will issue RFP No. NHLBI-HB-98-04, on or about August 29, 1997, and proposals will be due approximately five weeks thereafter. The contract period is to be six years, beginning approximately June 15, 1998. One cost-reimbursement contract is expected to be awarded to an offeror with the capability to maintain a repository of blood specimens from NHLBI-sponsored epidemiological and clinical studies. These specimens are made available to investigators conducting research related to transfusion medicine and disorders of the blood or cardiovascular system. Approximately 2.3 million specimens (90 percent of which are from subjects in studies of HIV infection or AIDS) are currently stored in 83 Government-owned, low-temperature freezers and 4 liquid nitrogen tanks. Specific requirements of this project include: 1) Maintenance of a serum, plasma, and cell repository at temperatures between -70 and -80 degrees centigrade; 2) Storage, retrieval, aliquoting, and shipment of specimens of serum, plasma, cells, or other blood components or samples by staff trained in virologic techniques with biosafety stage 2 biological materials; 3) Provide capability to perform serologic and virologic assays requiring laboratory biosafety level 2 facilities and personnel trained in handling pathogenic agents and dealing with potential hazards of the pathogens likely to be involved in the operations of the repository; and 4) Maintenance and up date of computerized inventory control systems reflecting activities of the biological serum repository. The intended procurement is a recompetition of contract N01-HB-17087, awarded to McKesson BioServices on February 28, 1991. The RFP will be available on the NIH Gopher. Access via the NIH Website (http://www.nih.gov). At the NIH Home Page select "Grants & Contracts" then select "NIH Gopher Directory" (within the Contracts Page). Offerors having access directly to the NIH Gopher may access the RFP by pointing to Gopher://Gopher.nih.gov:70/11res/rd-rfp. Select "Grant and Research Information" then select "R&D Request for Proposals." (0226)

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