Chemical Research Database Subscription

This Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought (SS) Notice is for market research, information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) or the US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA).  The requested information is for a specialized Chemical Research Database for its Experimental Therapeutics Department, located at 503 Robert Grant Ave, Silver Spring, Maryland.

At a minimum, the Chemical Research Database shall:

1. Be web based with log-in requirements to restrict account access to personnel at WRAIR.
2. Meet all DoD and Army IT security and technical requirements
3. Provide all up-to-date information and literature on chemical reactions, substance information, regulatory information, patent office and peer reviewed literature sources
4. Provide the use of current standard in pharmaceutical, academic, commercial, and government chemical search engine
5. Provide an unrestricted flexible search and discover options based on user needs to search for substances, reactions, patents, and journal references, including a rules-based retrosynthetic molecule design tool.
6. Allow multiple search sessions simultaneously
7. Provide a searching platform that will return results based on relevancy (Best, Good, Fair)
8. Provide the ability to search, sort, analyze, and refine articles by authors name, CAS number, DOI number, journal name, publication date, and article type (i.e. patent, review, paper, note, letter, conference abstract).
9. Be recognized by the American Chemical Society and maintain a reliable and unlimited access to a collection of chemistry related articles.
10. Provide access to chemical substance information to include chemical structures, chemical names, CAS Registry Numbers, properties, commercial availability, spectra, and regulatory information.
11. Provide access to search for reliable and current chemical reaction information, to include reaction schemes, experimental protocols, reaction conditions, yields, solvents, catalysts, and direct links to leading producer or suppliers of commercially available substances, that shall be grouped by scheme
12. Provide access to PatentPak and MethodsNow Synthesis
13. Provide references formatted to upload directly into Endnote.
14. Allow reaction and substance searches directly from ChemDraw
15. Provide up-to-date references on chemistry and related scientific information found in journals, patents, dissertations, etc.
16. Provide full-text early discovery through the combination of CAplus® and MEDLINE® on clinical trials information.
17. Provide procedures, structures, and CAS information from patents.
18. Provide an interactive workspace to visualize project designs or synthesis plans.
19. Offer predictive reaction planning
20. Provide shared links to collaborate with other researcher and customize search results.
21. Provide alerts for saved search topics to allow for convenient access to new research.
22. Provide search history in a calendar to track all searches and allow each to be rerun
23. Provide unlimited access of current chemistry and scientific journals via the current WRAIR Gorgas library subscription collection or other collections
24. Provide 24 hour online help desk support.

This announcement is not a formal solicitation and is not a request for proposal.  No contract will be awarded from this announcement.  No reimbursement will be made of any costs to provide information in response to this announcement or any follow up information requests.  Availability of any formal solicitation will be announced under a separate announcement.  This synopsis is for market research, information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Each response must reference the sources sought title. All proprietary information should be marked as such. Responses will be held confidential if requested.

RFI Response and due date: 6 June 2024 12:00PM ET

Instructions to Responders:

Responses from all capable and qualified sources are encouraged to respond to this request. 

White papers should adhere to the following formatting and outline instructions:

1.   All submissions shall be made electronically and be in one of the following formats: Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF.

2. Cover Page (1page)

• Title
• Organization
• Responders technical and administrative points of contact (names, addresses, phone, fax number and email addresses)
• Topic area(s) addressed

3.   Please note that the response shall provide sufficient technical data to determine how you fully meet the requirements as specified.  

Please note that responses are due no later than 6 June 2024 12:00PM ET.  The preferred method of submission is via email.  The point of contact for this action is Ms. Dawn Jennings, Contract Specialist dawn.v.jennings.civ@health.mil .  Subject line should read “Chemical Research Database.”  Only electronic responses are requested.  No evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents.  At this time no solicitation exists; therefore, please do not request a copy of the solicitation.