7200AA21RFA00005 RFI DEEP VZN.docx

Request for Information (RFI) Activity Name: Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses (DEEP VZN)

Reference No: Request for Information (RFI) Number: 7200AA21RFA00005

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking comments only on the attached draft Program Description for the following planned activity: “Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses (DEEP VZN)”. USAID posts this Request for Information (RFI) for the following purposes:

1) To provide industry and stakeholders an opportunity to review, comment, and provide suggestions for improvement or clarification of the DRAFT Program Description for the following potential activity for USAID: “Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses (DEEP VZN)” (Appendix I of the RFI package). This RFI may or may not lead to a formal solicitation or notice of funding opportunity for potential offerors.

2) To obtain feedback on questions pertinent to the draft Program Description (see below).

3) Invite the international community to a DEEP VZN pre-application conference (see below).

The RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance and USAID will not accept applications prior to issuance of a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Interested parties are advised to monitor the www.grants.gov website and USAID Business Forecast website (https://www.usaid.gov/business-forecast) for updates on this potential funding opportunity.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT. Interested parties who are unable to retrieve the RFI from site can request a copy of the complete RFI by writing to deepvzn@usaid.gov with "RFI 7200AA21RFA00005 DEEP VZN” as subject line.

Please ensure your comments are concise and specific to the information included within the draft Program Description. While there is no strict limit on the length of submission, we value concise, issue-specific responses with references to page and section numbers of the draft Program Description.

Please send your comments to deepvzn@usaid.gov no later than the response due date shown above. All emails must have the following subject line: “RFI 7200AA21RFA00005 DEEP VZN”. Electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response may be issued, but no individual feedback will be provided.

INSTRUCTIONS

Please respond to the questions listed below pertaining to the DEEP VZN requirement. Responses (comments, questions, suggestions, and enhancements) to this RFI and draft program description are due to the email address above by the date listed above. Responders may provide responses through the email message platform, or through attachments to email in a Microsoft Word compatible format or Adobe Acrobat format. Please note that there will be an opportunity to discuss responses to these questions at the DEEP VZN pre-application conference.

Overall

1) Broadly, where are the next frontiers in applied viral discovery and characterization and what approaches are likely to deliver the most significant impact in terms of improved efficiency and cost effectiveness?

2) What are the primary existing constraints/gaps in achieving this impact and how can they be overcome?

3) What strategies have proven effective in bridging the gap between viral discovery and using the data for applied risk mitigation?

4) What are best practices (and barriers) for sharing of data and samples (intra- and inter-country) in a timely manner?

5) What existing activities, partners, strategies/technologies can be leveraged? Specifically, are there specific projects or activities in other organizations related to the proposed work and specific opportunities to collaborate?

6) What host-government programs or policies (e.g. ending wildlife trade, protecting wildlife, infections disease programs, regulation of animal markets) would benefit from data and/or coordination with DEEP VZN?

7) Are there partners (e.g. governments, private sector, donors, others) that might be willing to invest in detection and characterization of unknown viruses? If so, who are they? If not, why are they unwilling to invest?

Objective 1 (sampling)

8) Should USAID limit the focus of the project in terms of number of countries, animal-human interfaces, and species/taxa?

9) How can sampling be improved to increase likelihood of detecting unknown viruses? When, where, and how frequently should sampling take place?

10) What should be the minimum number of sampling sites per country? If additional resources become available, should USAID increase the number of sampling sites in focus countries or expand to more countries or do both?

Objective 2 (detection)

11) How can viral detection be improved to increase likelihood of detecting unknown viruses?

12) What testing methods and strategies would be best for detecting unknown viruses?

13) What should be the minimum level of viral detection per country? If additional resources become available, should USAID increase the level of viral detection in focus countries or expand to more countries or do both?

Objective 3 (characterization)

14) How can viral characterization be improved to make the process more efficient for assessing zoonotic and pandemic potential?

15) What types of viral characterization and assessment would be most useful for development of diagnostics and biological counter-measures?

16) What is the best way to achieve the objective of characterizing unknown viruses while ensuring appropriate lab biosafety measures? Should regional or global labs be considered and, if so, what are best practices for sharing samples?

17) If additional resources become available, should USAID expand viral detection to all focus countries, but limit viral characterization to only some?

1.

INVITATION

Dear International Development Community:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) invites organizations working on the prevention, detection, and response of infectious disease threats to participate in a Pre-Application Conference (PAC) being organized by USAID’s Emerging Threats Division that will be held virtually on December 10, 2020. At this meeting, USAID plans to discuss a potential solicitation for a cooperative agreement Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses (DEEP VZN). Participants will be given the opportunity to discuss their questions, suggestions and/or comments on the draft program description, and to learn more about the application process.

This is an open invitation; however, the meeting will have limited capacity. As such, USAID kindly requests that all organizations planning to participate in the PAC to limit attendance to two (2) participants per organization. USAID also recommends that participants represent their organization’s technical expertise.

To RSVP, organizations should email deepvzn@usaid.gov with the following information:

EMAIL SUBJECT: DEEP VZN PAC

RSVP INFORMATION for up to two (2) participants: Full name Title Organization Email Time Zone

RSVPs to this event must be acknowledged by USAID, as space is limited. The RSVP acknowledgment will provide more detail regarding the meeting time and online platform. Only those participants who receive an email acknowledgment will be allowed to participate in the Pre-Application Conference. RSVPs will be accepted until the meeting capacity is met or through December 2, 2020, noon ET.

Any questions about the PAC may be directed to deepvzn@usaid.gov. Please note “QUESTION: DEEP VZN PAC” in the Subject Line.

Thank you for your interest in USAID’s Global Health Security program.

THIS NOTICE IS NOT A COMMITMENT TO AWARD. Please note that USAID will not reimburse travel and transportation expenses or any other expenses to attend the pre-application conference.

All the information contained in this Notice is subject to change.

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