Statement of Work NIAID-NOI-22-2114220.pdf

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Statement of Work Cercariae for Schistosomiasis

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is one of the world's foremost biomedical research organizations. It is the principal Federal agency for the conduct and support of medical research in the United States. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Division of Intramural Research (DIR) was established to conduct and support research to better understand the causes of allergic, immunologic, and infectious diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing, and treating illness.

Schistosomiasis is a highly prevalent disease in the developing world. Research is designed to understand the pathology of disease by characterizing the host’s immune response to parasite eggs as well as the nature of protective immunity. Studies are ultimately aimed at developing a schistosome anti-infection and/or anti-pathology vaccine, which may be used in both visitors to endemic areas as well as person endemically exposed. The prevention of the disease is a goal, which thus benefits the United States and the developing world.

This requirement is for services to maintain the life cycle of Schistosoma mansoni for the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases (LPD) and provide investigators with the cercariae stage of the life cycle. Cercariae are used for infecting or challenging animals or are transformed into schistosomula – the form of the parasite found in the mammalian host just after the cercariae penetrate the skin. Cercariae are used for a variety of purposes. Some are used for experimental infections or for the production of irradiated cercariae, which induce protective immunity in the mouse. Some are transformed into schistosomula (the presumed target of protective immunity) for in vitro studies on the cellular response to this stage.

SCOPE

This requirement is for services to maintain the life cycle of Schistosoma mansoni for the LPD and provide investigators with the cercariae stage of the life cycle.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work as stated herein.

Specific Requirements

The contractor shall be required to:

Harvest and deliver once per week to the NIH, cercariae of the Schistosoma mansoni strain as directed by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). For planning purposes the total annual quantity of cercariae shall be 156,000. The Contractor shall make every effort to deliver between 3,000 cercariae every Tuesday, or on an as needed basis between 10 am

- 1 pm, within the following guidelines:

1. Cercariae shall be delivered to the NIH within 1 hour or less time after processing to insure infectivity.

2. Cercariae shall be live upon receipt.

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3. Cercariae will be delivered in sealed 50 ml tubes and transported to the NIH laboratory in a sealed biosafety container with appropriate biosafety stickers indicating the presence of infectious materials.

All deliveries shall be made to the COR at the location(s) specified by the contract, or discussion with the COR for any alternate location.

Government Furnished

• There will be no Government furnished supplies or materials.

OPTIONS

In addition to the services/quantities outlined above to be provided for the base requirement, Options(s) for additional services/quantities under the contract may be exercised at the discretion of the Government and are defined as follows:

Option 1 – 4: Extend the Period of Performance: The Government includes options to extend the period of the performance. Each option is for one additional year or less of performance. The total period of performance resulting from the base period plus all potential Term Options is four (4) years. If Option 1-4 are exercised, the services required will be the same as provided during the base year.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

All written documents for this contract shall be submitted electronically in a format readable by standard word processing technology. All electronic files shall be submitted to the COR and Contracting Officer as designated.

In addition to any other required reporting set forth elsewhere by the award, submission of the following Technical Progress Reports shall also be required:

Quarterly Reports: The contractor shall submit two (2) copies of a quarterly summary report that documents and summarizes the results of each quarter of the award reporting period. Brief and factual progress reports will be submitted using the following format:

• A cover page containing:

• Contract number and title

• Period of performance being reported

• Contractor’s name and address

• Author’s name(s)

• Date of preparation

SECTION I – An introduction covering the period and scope of the award.

SECTION II – Number of shipments made, including quantities of items shipped during the quarter.

SECTION III – Substantive performance; a description of current technical or substantive performance and any problems that may exist along with proposed corrective action.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for full performance will be a base year with four (4) one-year option periods.