A -- HIV Vaccine Design and Development Teams

The Division of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (DAIDS) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), is committed to the development of efficacious vaccines against HIV and AIDS for worldwide use in stemming the AIDS epidemic. To augment the vaccine product pipeline, DAIDS is seeking opportunities to advance vaccine concepts toward the product stage via a focused, development-based approach. Specifically, the goal of this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is to solicit proposals for the development of new, safe, and immunogenic vaccine candidates that merit further evaluation in large human trials. This HIV Vaccine Design and Development Teams (herein referred to as HIV Vaccine Teams) BAA seeks to fund consortia of scientists with product development experience from industry and/or academia who have (1) identified a promising vaccine candidate, and (2) devised a comprehensive strategic research plan for targeted development of the vaccine candidate into a product suitable for testing in humans. It is a requirement of the contract that an HIV Vaccine Team advances the vaccine concept(s) along a well-defined development path in a timely manner to a vaccine product and into clinical testing by the beginning of the fifth year of the award period. Offerors are strongly encouraged, but not required, to conduct phase I/II trials in collaboration with an NIAID/DAIDS-supported clinical trials network, such as the HIV/AIDS Vaccine Trials Network (the HVTN; http://www.hvtn.org/ ) for preventive vaccines, the AIDS Clinical Trials Groups (ACTG; http://aactg.s-3.com/ ) for therapeutic vaccines, or the restructured HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Networks currently being solicited under NIAID RFA-AI-05-001, Leadership for HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Networks (http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-05-001.htlm). It is anticipated that up to four (4) cost reimbursement, completion type contracts will be awarded for a period of five (5) years, beginning approximately May 3, 2006. NIH-NIAID-DAIDS-BAA-06-19 will be available electronically on or about May 26, 2005, and may be accessed through the NIAID Contract Management Program (CMP) Home Page by using the following electronic address and instructions: Access the CMP Home Page by using http://www.niaid.nih.gov/contract and select the - RFPs link, then select - RFP-NIH-NIAID-DAIDS-BAA-06-19. It will also be posted on FedBizOpps at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. This advertisement does not commit the Government to award a contract. Any reasonable offeror may submit a proposal that will be considered by the Government. No collect calls will be accepted. No facsimile transmissions will be accepted. See Government-wide Numbered Note 26. Contracting Office Address: Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Contract Management Branch 6700-B Rockledge Drive Room 2230, MSC 7612 Bethesda, MD, 20892-7612 Point of Contact: Jill Johnson, Contract Specialist, Phone 301-451-6396, Fax 301-402-0972, Email: jmjohnson@niaid.nih.gov Alternate Point of Contact: Niha Dhir, Contract Specialist, Phone 301- 496-0993 Fax 301-402-0972 E-mail: dhirn@niaid.nih.gov