Support for Research on Retroviral Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention

Title: Support for Research on Retroviral Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention

The National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland is seeking a contractor with the capacity to provide on-going support for the Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, which will include investigations related to development of vaccines for prevention of retroviral infection, development of treatment strategies for AIDS, and elucidation of mechanisms of retroviral pathogenesis.

The proposed project will provide support in several areas including cell culture and virology, immunology, protein biochemistry and molecular biology. All these areas are critical to thorough study of retroviral pathogenesis and evaluation of candidate vaccines. A culture capability will provide for virus isolation and characterization, and development and expansion of viral stocks, critical for assessment of infection following challenge of vaccinated animals with live viruses, for studies of viral variation and evolution, for identification of novel viruses, and for provision of essential viral strains for use in vitro and in vivo. A virologic capability will provide support for pathogenesis studies and for determination of vaccine efficacy following challenge of immunized animals. An immunologic capability will provide support in evaluating seroprevalence of viruses of interest and immune responses elicited by candidate vaccines, and in determining immune parameters associated with protection from viral infection or disease progression. Numerous purified proteins and peptides are required in the study of retroviruses and retroviral vaccines, and these will be provided by the protein biochemistry segment of the contract. Molecular biologic capabilities will provide quantitative analytical support of vaccine and pathogenesis studies as well as direct provision of critical nucleic acid reagents including codon-optimized DNAs and plasmid DNA vaccines. In addition, the proposed project will provide long-term storage for viable cells and viruses.

The Contractor must meet the mandatory qualification criteria which require the Contractor to have biocontainment facilities (BSL2 with BSL3 practices) to conduct work with human retroviruses and non-human primate retroviruses (HIV, SIV, SHIV, SIV), adenoviruses and poxviruses. The contractor must also be able to supply fresh, viable cells and biologically active purified proteins to the Government within one hour after harvest or preparation.

This acquisition is a recompetition of contract No. N02-RC-47703 currently held by Advanced Biosciences Laboratory of Kensington, Maryland. It is anticipated that one cost-reimbursement, completion type contract for a period of up to five years (one base plus four options) will be awarded. The solicitation is scheduled for electronic release on or about May 4, 2009. The proposal will be due approximately 30 days following the actual date of the RFP issuance. This is a full and open competition under NAICS Code 541380. The RFP #N02-RC-91014-56 may be accessed through the Office of Acquisitions Home Page by using the following internet address: http://rcb.cancer.gov/rcb-internet. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the above Internet site for the release of this solicitation and amendments, if any. POTENTIAL OFFERORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DOWNLOADING THEIR OWN COPY OF THE RFP AND ANY AMENDMETNS. Point of contact: Juana A. Diaz, Contract Specialist at e-mail: diazj@mail.nih.gov, FAX: 301-402-6699, Phone: 301-496-8613. No collect calls will be accepted.