National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH; 6701 ROCKLEDGE DR R MSC7902 BETHESDA MD 20892-7902

A -- LIPOPROTEIN A STANDARDIZATION PROGRAM SOL RFP-NIH-NHLBI-98-13 DUE 021798 POC Robert A. Julia, Contracting Officer, 301-435-0340 WEB: National Institutes of Health Home Page, http://www.nih.gov. E-MAIL: Robert A. Julia, Contracting Officer, rj12s@nih.gov. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), has a requirement to reach a consensus on how to define and express Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] values and to obtain a common reference material to be used to harmonize the data. It is intended to award a contract to one laboratory to develop a standardized method for Lp(a) measurements and to devise and produce reference material to calibrate assays and minimize biases. The objectives of the program include developing or optimizing currently existing Lp(a) assays with regard to antibody specificity and sensitivity to various Lp(a) isoform sizes, produce and characterize a primary reference material for Lp(a) with values expressed in terms of Lp(a) lipoprotein mass (g/L), Lp(a) protein mass (g/L), Lp(a) protein concentration (nmol/L), and Lp(a) cholesterol (nmol/L), provide a secondary reference material(s) for Lp(a), develop an Lp(a) reference method for the transfer of Lp(a) values expressed in different terms from the primary Lp(a) standard to the secondary Lp(a) reference material(s), and if warranted by results, establish a synthetic peptide of apo(a) or recombinant apo(a) to be used as a primary standard. To accomplish these objectives, the successful offeror must have rigorous quality control procedures in place; the proposed bench level staff must demonstrate experience in testing lipid profile measurements. The proposed Principal Investigator is required to be a senior scientist with experience in supervision of a laboratory involved in lipid measurements for large-scale clinical trials or epidemiologic studies and will be expected to collaborate with NHLBI in developing and writing manuscripts describing the results of the study. Offerors will be required to present plans detailing the technical approaches, procedures, and time schedules for accomplishing these objectives. This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP). It is anticipated that RFP NHLBI-HV-98-13 will be available on or about November 26, 1997 on theNIH Gopher. Award of a contract for this project will be made only to an offeror located in the United States of America. 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 which have access to the NIH Gopher Server can access the RFP by pointing the gopher client to gopher://gopher.nih.gov:70/11/res/rd-rfp. A hardcopy version of the RFP will be mailed to any organization unable to access the RFP online. Proposals will be due on or about February 17, 1998. This proposed program is not set aside for small business or SBA 8(a) program vendors; the SICC is 8733. (0317)

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