Preclinical Agent Development Assays 2012-2016

The National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute awarded this Master IDIQ on September 20, 2012, for preclinical in vitro and in vivo agent development assays supporting the evaluation of potential cancer preventive agents through mechanism-based screening. Ordering against the vehicle closed on August 28, 2016, making this vehicle inactive for nine years ten months.

The vehicle is fully exhausted and no longer available for new orders. All $9.7 million in combined potential value across 21 task orders has been obligated. The ordering pattern peaked in the vehicle's first year with 12 awards in 2012, then declined sharply to 3 orders in 2013, 5 in 2014, and 1 final order in 2015. The most recent task-order award was February 26, 2015. Task orders employed firm fixed price and cost-no-fee pricing structures with typical individual ceilings ranging from roughly $400,000 to $800,000, though several orientation and travel-related orders fell below $4,000.

Work concentrated on assays evaluating drug candidates for colorectal, mammary, lung, and pancreatic cancer prevention, employing histopathology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, molecular targets, transformation, proliferation, and apoptosis endpoints in rodent models. Representative studies included efficacy testing of aspirin and naproxen in colorectal cancer models, metformin in mammary carcinogenesis under different diet conditions, and aerosolized bexarotene in three lung cancer subtypes.

Three research universities dominated the awardee base: University of Oklahoma (7 orders, $4 million combined value), University of Alabama at Birmingham (7 orders, $3.3 million), and Weill Medical College of Cornell University (6 orders, $2.4 million), with IIT Research Institute receiving a single $3 thousand orientation order. All 21 task orders funded the National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Prevention with no set-asides applied. All work was unrestricted competitive procurement.

The Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded a Master IDIQ for Preclinical In Vitro and In Vivo Agent Development Assays. This contract supports the development of potential cancer preventive agents using mechanism-based screening assays in vitro and in vivo. The screening assays will evaluate the potential of test agents to inhibit, reverse, or delay early carcinogenesis through a variety of endpoints, such as histopathology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, molecular targets and pathways, transformation, proliferation, and apoptosis, using state-of-the-art experimental methodologies.