AB11--36C24E23R0018 | AntiFungal Drug Delivery System | UMASS

Regional Procurement Office (RPO) - East intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL APPLIED RESEARCH CORPORATION, to purchase specialty services and anticandidal denture materials for in vivo testing and the lectin-liposome-antifungal drug delivery system for the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (San Antonio).

The anticandidal drug click on/click off denture materials and lectin-liposome-antifungal drug delivery system are experimental dental materials and are essential materials for the South Texas Research Team s proposed studies. Literature search results in Medline and AGRICOLA (1966-Present: anticandidal, denture, lectin-liposome and stomatitis) show that the laboratory of the UMASS-Lowell holds the propriety technologies for formulating theses denture materials and antifungal technologies. The UMASS-Lowell research laboratory is a sole source for providing these proposed materials for testing anticandidal denture and drug release using the team s novel rat denture stomatitis model.

STATEMENT OF WORK

Background and Scope

1. General: The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), Chemistry Department will fabricate fungi-binding antifungal drug delivery systems, characterize the biocompatibility and cell-/ Candida-binding properties in vitro, and support/advise the in vivo tests to be carried out using the new drug delivery systems during a two year period (Base Year + 1 Option Year).

2. Description of Work:

(1) Cell-binding drug carrier delivery system: The UML team will produce cell-binding drug delivery systems. Biocompatible polymers will be used to encapsulate a model drug miconazole, and WGA will be covalently linked to the encapsulates for targeted drug delivery. Samples will be provided to Dr. Chih-Ko Yeh at the VA for evaluation during Base Year.

(2) Evaluation: To confirm cell-binding capability, the systems will be fluorescently labeled with CFPE (1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-carboxyfluorescein ammonium salt) and binding to OKF6/TERT-2 cells (a human oral keratinocyte cell line) followed by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence plate reader-based kinetics assays. To test fungal-binding properties and antifungal effects, fungal species will be exposed to different quantities of the new drug delivery system for 1 min, centrifuged, re-suspended in PBS, and cultured on agar plates to establish a dose-antifungal efficacy relationship and determine a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). To be completed during Option Year 1.

3. Qualifications:

Sun, Yuyu is a full Professor in Chemistry Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He received his Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Physics with more than 20 years of experience in developing antimicrobial and biofilm-controlling biomaterials. Dr. Sun has five issued patents and more than ninety peer-reviewed journal articles in the field. He is the first researcher demonstrated the feasibility of click-on/click-off, infection-responsive anticandidal denture materials, and the cell-binding capability of WGA-containing drug delivery systems for antifungal applications. His group is the only group that can provide the proposed cell-binding drug delivery systems for the proposed research. This contract for service and cost was included in Dr. Yeh s grant application and subsequently approved and funded by VACO Research and Development Service.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Any responsible sources who wish to identify their interest and capability to provide this equipment or equipment that is compatible must notify this Contracting Officer at Millicent.Covert@va.gov NLT Wednesday, May 10, 2023, by 11:59 AM EST. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Upon receipt of the interested parties' notification, the Contracting Officer will determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement or proceed with sole source negotiations.