Non-human Primate Reagent Resource

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 Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation (DAIT) has a requirement for a Reagent Resource which will develop, obtain, evaluate, produce, and distribute a wide variety of reagents to facilitate and advance NHP research in infectious and immune-mediated diseases. Description The Contractor shall operate and manage the NHP Reagent Resource to develop, obtain, evaluate, produce, and distribute a wide variety of reagents to facilitate and advance NHP research in infectious and immune-mediated diseases. - Examples of reagent categories include monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), receptor/ligands, chimeric/recombinant proteins or mAbs, transformed cell lines, transforming virus stocks, and other novel state-of-the-art reagents required for in vivo or in vitro 1) evaluation or monitoring of immune responses; 2) depletion of select immune cells; and 3) modulation or alteration of immune responses. The development of new reagents and the modification of existing reagents for use in NHP research will be supported. - The NHP species that are the primary focus of this RFP are the 1) Cynomolgus macaque (Macaca fasicularis); 2) Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta); 3) Pigtail macaque (Macaca nemestrina); and 4) Baboon (Papio hamadryas). Reagent development for additional species of non-human primates may be required to meet the needs of the Government or the research community. - Under unusual circumstance, a reagent may be provided for limited use for other than NHP research, e.g. by an investigator who has provided a given mAb cell line to the Contractor and requires material for his/her own non-NHP research use. - Costs for reagent production are recovered from investigators only for large quantities of reagents, typically gram quantities used for in vivo experiments. All other costs are covered under the contract. - Initial distribution capacity shall be for approximately 300 shipments per year, with potential to increase to 400 shipments per year. - The base period of performance for this contract is five (5) years. The Government reserves the right to exercise the option to extend the contract period of performance for up to an additional two (2) years to continue the services required for the base period. The major scope of functions to be performed by the contractor are: A. Identification, Prioritization and Approval of Candidate Reagents B. Reagent Development Proposals C. Reagent Development D. Reagent Production, Purification, and Quality Control E. Distribution, Tracking and Inventory F. NHP Reagent Resource Website and Communications with the NHP Research Community It is anticipated that one cost reimbursement completion type contract will be awarded for a five-year period of performance beginning on or about September 1, 2009. Government Options may extend the contract for up to an additional two (2) years to continue services required during base period. It is estimated that the provision of FTEs will be approximately 5.1 FTE's. Any responsible offeror may submit a proposal which will be considered by the Agency. This RFP will be available electronically on/about October 10, 2008 and may be accessed through FedBizOpps http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. This notice does not commit the Government to award a contract. No collect calls will be accepted. No facsimile transmissions will be accepted.