ONRAB Ultralite wildlife Baits

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)/Wildlife Services (WS), National Rabies Management Program in Concord, NH, intends to award a sole-source contract to Artemis Technologies, LLC,   for the supply  of  the  oral rabies vaccine ONRAB® Ultralite baits.  WS proposes to purchase up to 3,500,000 oral rabies vaccine wildlife baits during 2021.   This procurement is being conducted in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 and 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1).

USDA, APHIS, WS and state and federal collaborators conducted field trials during 2011-2018 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a human adenovirus type 5-rabies glycoprotein recombinant (AdRG1.3) ONRAB® rabies vaccine in raccoons and striped skunks.  To date, Raboral V-RG® (a vaccinia-rabies glycoprotein recombinant oral rabies vaccine), the only oral rabies vaccine licensed for use in the United States to control rabies in raccoons and coyotes, has been the only oral rabies vaccine used operationally in rabies control campaigns. This vaccine has allowed WS and cooperators to prevent raccoon rabies from spreading appreciably, but achieving elimination of raccoon rabies is expected to require higher levels of rabies antibody seroconversion in raccoon populations targeted for oral vaccination at currently used bait densities. In addition, there is a need to orally vaccinate skunks as raccoon rabies often spills over into the skunk population, a potential source of re-infection in raccoons. ONRAB® has been identified as a candidate for testing, in part, because this oral vaccine demonstrated higher levels of rabies antibody seroconversion in raccoons than the oral vaccine currently in use in the United States in two cross-border comparison studies.  In addition, it has produced favorable control in raccoons and, in some cases, skunks in Canada. Although the recombinant ONRAB® vaccine has been used extensively in southern Ontario since 2006 and Quebec since 2007 with good reported success, these field trials represented the first release of this vaccine into the field in the United States. 

This is not a request for competitive proposals.  No solicitation documents are available and telephone requests will not be honored.  However, if a firm believes it can meet the requirements it must furnish information about its product to the Contract Specialist listed on this notice by 4 p.m. central on the closing date of this notice.  Supporting evidence must be furnished in sufficient detail to demonstrate the ability to comply with the above requirement.  The NAICS code for this acquisition is 325414 - Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing, and the small business size standard is 500 Employees.

Responses received after the response date or without the required information will not be considered. Capability statements may be sent via email: Jason.l.wilking@usda.gov.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)/Wildlife Services (WS), National Rabies Management Program in Concord, NH, intends to award a sole-source contract to Artemis Technologies, LLC,   for the supply  of  the  oral rabies vaccine ONRAB® Ultralite baits.  WS proposes to purchase up to 3,500,000 oral rabies vaccine wildlife baits during 2021.   This procurement is being conducted in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 and 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1).

USDA, APHIS, WS and state and federal collaborators conducted field trials during 2011-2018 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a human adenovirus type 5-rabies glycoprotein recombinant (AdRG1.3) ONRAB® rabies vaccine in raccoons and striped skunks.  To date, Raboral V-RG® (a vaccinia-rabies glycoprotein recombinant oral rabies vaccine), the only oral rabies vaccine licensed for use in the United States to control rabies in raccoons and coyotes, has been the only oral rabies vaccine used operationally in rabies control campaigns. This vaccine has allowed WS and cooperators to prevent raccoon rabies from spreading appreciably, but achieving elimination of raccoon rabies is expected to require higher levels of rabies antibody seroconversion in raccoon populations targeted for oral vaccination at currently used bait densities. In addition, there is a need to orally vaccinate skunks as raccoon rabies often spills over into the skunk population, a potential source of re-infection in raccoons. ONRAB® has been identified as a candidate for testing, in part, because this oral vaccine demonstrated higher levels of rabies antibody seroconversion in raccoons than the oral vaccine currently in use in the United States in two cross-border comparison studies.  In addition, it has produced favorable control in raccoons and, in some cases, skunks in Canada. Although the recombinant ONRAB® vaccine has been used extensively in southern Ontario since 2006 and Quebec since 2007 with good reported success, these field trials represented the first release of this vaccine into the field in the United States. 

This is not a request for competitive proposals.  No solicitation documents are available and telephone requests will not be honored.  However, if a firm believes it can meet the requirements it must furnish information about its product to the Contract Specialist listed on this notice by 4 p.m. central on the closing date of this notice.  Supporting evidence must be furnished in sufficient detail to demonstrate the ability to comply with the above requirement.  The NAICS code for this acquisition is 325414 - Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing, and the small business size standard is 500 Employees.

Responses received after the response date or without the required information will not be considered. Capability statements may be sent via email: Jason.l.wilking@usda.gov.