National Institute of Mental Health, Contracts Management Branch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 9C-15, Rockville, MD, 20857-8030

A -- NIMH PSYCHOACTIVE DRUG SCREENING PROGRAM POC Contracting Officer, David Eskenazi or Patricia Gibbons, (301) 443-2696 The National Institute of Mental Health anticipates the procurement of services to support an NIMH Psychoactive Drug Screening Program. The goals of the program are to stimulate the design and discovery of novel positron emission tomography (PET) ligands for functional brain imaging in humans, novel psychoactive agents for preclinical research, and potential therapeutic agents in the treatment of mental disorders. The resultant contract will provide primary and secondary pharmacological screening of psychoactive compounds, quantitative data analyses, and dissemination of data to NIMH-approved private and public investigators. The purpose of the resultant contract will be to receive and test approximately 200 to 300 NIMH-approved and coded samples (synthetic compounds and natural product extracts) per year in broad-based central nervous system (CNS) receptor and enzyme screening assays and provide an electronic datafile for each of the screened compounds. Approximately 50% of these samples are to be tested in Human Recombinant Receptor Assays. Interested organizations shall evidence high quality, state-of-the-art experience in the following areas: 1) radioligand binding assays for human receptor subtypes; 2) high-throughput screening of synthetic compounds and natural product extracts in state-of-the-art radioligand binding assays for human and rodent central nervous system receptors (including but not limited to dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, adrenergic, opioid, and muscarinic receptor subtypes), ion channels, transporters, neuropeptide receptors, and enzymes; quantitative analysis of receptor binding (IC50, Ki, inhibition curves); 3) cellular or tissue assays to detect functional activity of agonists, partial agonists, or antagonists for CNS receptors (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, glutamate); and 4) animal assays to detect biological activity. Given that this is a highly technical endeavor, the contractor shall demonstrate prior experience in: testing synthetic compounds and natural product extracts in radioligand binding assays for human recombinant and rodent CNS receptors, in cellular or tissue assays to detect functional activity, and in animal assays to detect biological activity; quantitative data analyses; and management of an electronic, pharmacological database. This shall be documented by publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals by the interested source, or by another individual/organization which used source data generated by the interested source as the basis for a peer-reviewed scientific publication. The demonstrated evidence should specify current or past contracts or research grants for related requirements, and the qualifications, availability, and experience of the professional and technical personnel necessary to perform contract requirements. Statements should be limited to ten (10) pages, exclusive of resumes. Resumes should be provided for key individuals responsible for day-to-day contract requirements and should provide assurances of their availability. Responses shall also indicate if the interested source is a small or large business, a non-profit entity, 8(a) certified, and/or woman owned. All responses received from interested sources by March 27, 1998 shall be considered by the Government. Based upon the evaluation of responses to this announcement, the Government reserves the right to set aside this acquisition. The Government anticipates release of an RFP approximately 30 days after receipt of statements from interested offerors. Statements shall be sent or delivered to the National Institute of Mental Health, Attn: Contract Officer, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9C-15, Rockville, Md. 20857. Facsimile responses will be accepted, so long as they do not exceed twenty (20) pages in length. Email statements, sent to de5d@nih.gov shall also be accepted. This announcement if for informational and planning purposes only. It does not constitute an Invitation for Bid (IFB) or a Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. (0070)

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