In Vitro Assessments of Antimicrobial Activity

AMENDMENT TWO The purpose of Amendment Two is to: 1. Respond to questions received regarding this solicitation. ______________________________________________________________________ AMENDMENT ONE The purpose of Amendment One is to: 1. Provide a cut-off date for submission of questions; 2. Provide updated instructions for the Proposal Intent Response Sheet; 3. Clarify submission instructions to eCPS; and 4. Respond to questions received regarding this solicitation. ______________________________________________________________________ Introduction The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) supports research related to the basic understanding of microbiology and immunology leading to the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and medical diagnostics for the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of infectious and immune-mediated diseases. The NIAID, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), has a requirement to support in vitro testing assess the therapeutic potential of compounds to advance our understanding of infectious diseases as well as advance the development of therapeutics for infectious diseases. Description NIAID supports nearly all stages of the product development pipeline from in vitro therapeutic evaluation through advanced therapeutic and vaccine testing and manufacturing using multiple support services contracts. The current solicitation addresses a critical stage in this pipeline by providing an efficient means to assess the therapeutic potential of compounds through in vitro testing. The overarching goal of the In Vitro Assessments of Antimicrobial Activity program is to provide capability in a broad range of in vitro testing capabilities to assess promising candidate countermeasures against the more than 270 infectious agents and vectors that are within the purview of DMID. In addition to meeting the needs of extramural researchers, it is anticipated that contracts resulting from this solicitation will provide crucial data to be used by NIAID partners at other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. Such data will facilitate the advancement of promising candidate medical countermeasures against priority emerging and bioterror infectious agents to approval or licensure and, in some cases, eventual deposit in the Strategic National Stockpile. In 2019, fourteen (14) institutions were awarded base contracts under the In Vitro Assessments of Antimicrobial Activity IDIQ contract program. Its overarching goal was to provide broad capability in in vitro methods to evaluate activity of candidate countermeasures against the full range of infectious agents in the purview of DMID. The breadth of the existing contractor pool has enabled a rapid and effective response to emerging threats such as SARS-CoV-2 and other emergency preparedness priorities. NIAID anticipates awarding multiple Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts to organizations that have the capabilities required to fulfill the technical requirements of the Task Areas described below. Offerors may submit to multiple Task Areas where they are capable to best meet the overall Task Area requirements, however, they must submit separate proposals for each of these Task Areas. Offerors will be considered for contracts only in the Task Area(s) included in their proposal(s), and successful Contractors may compete for task orders only in the Task Area(s) in which they are selected for award. Sample Task Orders will be provided in the Request for Proposal (RFP) solely to evaluate Offeror responses and capabilities. The Task Areas of this solicitation are as follows: Task Area A - Bacteria, Fungi, and Toxins Task Area B - Viruses Task Area C - Parasites and Vectors Task Area D - New Techniques to Culture Difficult-to-Grow Pathogens The NIAID recognizes that a single organization or institution may not have the full spectrum of expertise, or facilities required to perform all activities set forth in the Statement of Work. Contractors may need to be supported to a certain extent by the expertise and resources of other organizations or persons through subcontracts, partnership or consortia agreements, and/or use of consultants. However, Contractors shall be responsible for ALL work performed and shall be responsible for project planning, initiation, implementation, management, and communication; evaluation, selection, and management of subcontractors; and for all deliverables specified in this contract and each awarded Task Order. Any responsible offeror may submit a proposal that will be considered by the Agency. This RFP will be available electronically on/about December 30, 2024, and may be accessed through SAM.gov. This notice does not commit the Government to award a contract. No collect calls will be accepted. No facsimile transmissions will be accepted. For this solicitation, the NIAID requires proposals to be submitted online via the NIAID electronic Contract Proposal Submission (eCPS) website. Submission of proposals by facsimile or e-mail is not acceptable. For directions on using eCPS, go to the website https://ecps.nih.gov and then click on "How to Submit." Follow the "How to Submit an Electronic Proposal" instructions provided on the eCPS website at: https://ecps.nih.gov/home/howto. Please note that creating an account to submit may take up to three (3) business days. Please apply for a new account early to allow enough time for the registration process.