Q--Sources Sought for Targeted Acquisition of Reference Materials Augmenting Capabilities (TARMAC)

The Medical Countermeasure Systems Critical Reagents Program (MCS-CRP) is seeking interest by commercial entities with the capability to satisfy United States Army requirements for the Targeted Acquisition of Reference Materials Augmenting Capabilities (TARMAC). The purpose of this announcement is to identify interested parties capable of providing supply support to the U.S. Critical Reagents Program (CRP). Respondent should briefly describe with details on their capability to perform for each of the following areas. 1. Access areas of the world which have or could have reference materials, 1.1. Agreements in place with local governments. Examples; Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defense, etc. 1.2. Agreements in place with targeted individual relationships. Examples; local academic performers, local health performers, etc. 1.3. Agreements or relationships with U.S. government agencies which would facilitate testing or acquiring samples and or data to CRP. 1.4. Agreements (Letters of Support) or relationships with global agencies. Examples; World Health Organization (WHO) Global Outbreak & Response Network (GOARN), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Special Pathogens Branch, the World Arbovirus Reference Center, International Center for Medical Research in Franceville, Gabon (CIRMF), etc. 2. Acquire materials from these areas for accessioning into CRP 2.1. Capability to procure and facilitate the publication of previously unknown or unpublished sequence and metadata from toxin, viral and bacterial select agents (at least 4 pathogens per year). Platforms of interest; MiSeq platform and EDGE bioinformatics suite. 2.2. Experience in transferring material and supplies under ITAR regulations. 3. Metadata generation which can be transferred to CRP 3.1. Capability to oversee assay execution of CRP suite diagnostics as part of routine diagnostics within the WHO Especially Dangerous Pathogens Laboratory Network (EDPLN) and provide performance data back to the CRP either monthly or in near real-time. 3.2. Ability to securely store confidential health information 4. Field testing capabilities 4.1. Agreements (Letters of Support) in place to support the CRP assay portfolio into local laboratory network. Example; WHO EDPLN. 4.2. Capability to perform assessment of existing EDPLN stocks of reference samples and provide CRP assay evaluation on samples with sequencing. 4.3. Capability to deploy, as needed, mobile platforms equipped with CRP diagnostic reagents and equipment Respondents with interest, experience, and capability to develop and manufacture the above mentioned detection capabilities are encouraged to respond. Specific functional capabilities include, but are not limited to, the following: a) Program management to include experience in developing management and risk plans; b) Technical expertise in detection capabilities, specifically LFIs; c) Manufacturing facility that is temperature, humidity and environmentally controlled; d) Quality controls and assurances that meet ISO 9001:2008 certifications and standards or equivalent. This is not a request for competitive proposals, but interested parties interested should furnish in writing, a 3-4 page (not including cover page, index, or list of references) synopsis of their capability to accomplish the described work effort. Companies responding to this notice must provide complete contact information (telephone, address, email address).. Please also include information regarding any prior experience with U.S. Government contracts similar to the above mentioned detection capabilities. The Government will retain comments and information received in response to this notice. Proprietary information should be identified as Company Proprietary. Do not use Government Security Classification markings. Any information provided to the U.S. Government in response to this sources sought notice is for planning purposes only and will not be used as a selection consideration factor in any U.S. Government contract competition. Should the U.S. Government elect to pursue the subject requirement, an official Request for Proposal will be released at a later date in accordance with FAR Part 5. This Sources Sought Notice allows qualified sources for this requirement to self identify. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for any information solicited. No solicitation document exists or is guaranteed to be issued as a result of this notice. All written responses must be received by October 17, 2014. The Government Contracting Officer for this notice is Mr. Leo Fratis. Responses should be sent to: contact@example.gov. Respondents shall designate a company point of contact for the Government (telephone, address, and email). Preferred media is electronic (i.e. Microsoft Word, Portable Document Format, or MS Power Point) via e-mail submission. However, other media types (i.e. CD, printed technical information) will be accepted and should be sent to Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground/Natick Division, Attn: Mr. Leo Fratis, 110 Thomas Johnson Drive, Suite 240, Frederick, Maryland 21702. Material that is advertisement only in nature is not desired.