R -- R-Housing & Maintenance of Non-Human Primates

The National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, Vaccine Research Center (VRC), intends to add an additional 150 non-human primates to the work currently being done by BioQual, Inc. under current contract N01-AO-12743. The VRC has embarked on an ambitious research program to translate the latest concepts in disease pathogenesis and immunology into new vaccine strategies, thereby providing safe and effective means to prevent and control human diseases. The urgency of this need requires an accelerated agenda particularly in early phase pre-clinical work. Work will be done at the VRC to improve existing nonhuman primate AIDS models, by creating new challenge viruses for monkeys that more closely approximate the types of HIV isolates that are responsible for the transmission of HIV in people. New reagents will be developed for evaluating vaccine-elicited immune responses in monkeys so that studies can be done in a highly quantitative manner to assess and compare prototype vaccines. Studies will be pursued to define immune correlates of protection in monkeys against SHIV/HIV virus infections to provide guidance for vaccine strategies that could protect people against HIV infection. Finally, the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of vaccine prototypes will be evaluated in non-human primates BioQual is proposed as the only contractor with the requisite capability to support this agenda based on its experience providing the VRC similar services in the current, ongoing contract. BioQual is already providing close support to the VRC through implementing multiple non-human primate animal protocols in animals housed and maintained at Bioqual. There are currently 150 monkeys in place at BioQual that are being used for VRC protocols involving evaluation of immunogenicity and safety. The new environment created by recent bioterrorism events requires an advanced and accelerated approach to developing preventative and therapeutic vaccines based on validated animal models. There is an urgent need to augment VRC testing capability with up to 150 additional monkeys, both for HIV protocols and for protocols involving other infectious diseases, in order to meet deadlines required under recent bioterrorism authorizations and schedules. BioQual is fully briefed on current and planned animal protocols and would not require an additional training period or start up time frame to engage in fulfilling urgent VRC animal testing needs. Thus, there will be no learning curve for BioQual, a consideration that is deemed paramount. In addition, the current contract was advertised and awarded competitively with only a single offeror responding. That offeror was BioQual. Thus, the government believes that no other offerors are currently available to adequately provide these services, and no offerors available who could fulfill implementation of VRC animal testing needs in non-human primates with no start up delay. For questions about this acquisition you may contact Terrie Nestor or Karin Eddy at +1 (555) 000-0000. SEE NUMBERED NOTE 22.