A--Food and Water Environmental Surveillance Assays For Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS)

Food and Water Environmental Surveillance Assays For Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS) Sources Sought NAICS: 541711 This is a Sources Sought, issued for the purpose of conducting market research to determine the availability and potential technical capability of the products described below. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for capability information is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor does it constitute a request for proposal. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred Description: Food and Water Environmental Surveillance Assays on the JBAIDS Analyzer The U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground, Natick Contracting Division, on behalf of the Joint Project Management Office (JPMO) for Chemical, Biological, Medical Systems (CBMS) - Biosurveillance (BSV) requests that any qualified interested parties respond with information regarding their capabilities in the development and production of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) environmental surveillance assays for food and water pathogens, specifically for use on the DoD Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS) (Block I). The JPMO CBMS-BSV is seeking companies with experience and capability in developing environmental surveillance assays for the detection of food and water pathogens. Specifically, companies would develop and validate real-time polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assays to aid in detection of food and water pathogens using the existing JBAIDS analyzer, developed and manufactured by Idaho Technology, Inc. The panel of food and water assays would be designed to identify pathogens of interest to the DoD, specifically Norovirus, Salmonella, E.coli/0157:H7, E.coli/ETEC, E.coli/STEC, E.coli/EHEC, Crytosporidium, Campylobacter, Vibrio, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogends and Cyclospora. The pathogens are listed in order of importance and not all pathogen detection assays will be pursued. The government's goal is to field a suite of a minimum of five food and water assays. Assay Development and Assessment would include the following: 1. Develop (if necessary), or obtain rights to designs of, the target assays that are able to identify the following pathogenic agents: a. Norovirus b. Salmonella, c. E.coli/0157:H7, d. E.coli/ETEC, e. E.coli/STEC, f. E.coli/EHEC, g. Crytosporidium, h. Campylobacter, i. Vibrio, Bacillus cereus, j. Clostridium perfringens, k. Listeria monocytogends, l. Cyclospora 2. Develop (if necessary) synthetic positive template control materials for each assays. 3. Optimize the assays on the JBAIDS instrument. 4. Formulate the assays in a freeze-dried, room-temperature (18-28oC) stable format consistent with the existing JBAIDS assay format. 5. Initiate a real-time stability program to demonstrate minimum 12-month (T) shelf life of the freeze-dried assays. Responses: Contract Award is expected in fiscal year 2012. If qualified and capable, include a description of your company's experience and resources that meet the following: 1. Possession of a system science and methodology, and proven expertise to development freeze-dried PCR food and water assays that has supporting test data to validate any food and water environmental surveillance identification performance claims in relevant sample types. 2. Ability to develop the surveillance assays noted above, and a plan for your company's assay candidate(s) to operate on the JBAIDS analyzer. 3. Eligibility to receive a DoD secret security clearance before contract award. Electronic responses via email are preferred. Hard copies will also be accepted (no more than two hard copies of the submitted documents are required). Send all questions and responses to contact@example.gov or US Army Contracting Command-Natick Contracting Division, Cynthia Gnam, Contracting Officer, 1564 Freedman Dr, Ft Detrick MD 21702-5041. Responses received later than 30 November 2011 may not be considered. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's potential capability and capacity to perform the subject work. The Government may provide access to the information contained in the response to a contractor providing acquisition or technical support to the Government. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Tech Match Keyword(s): Chemistry Human Systems Biomedical technology Human Performance Medical Science, Medicine, and Biology Operations Research Engineering