Nephropathology Associates, PLC

Nephropathology Associates, PLC, doing business as Arkana Laboratories, operates as the nation's largest nephropathology practice, delivering specialized renal biopsy analysis, anatomic pathology referral laboratory testing, and nephrology diagnostic services exclusively to the Department of Veterans Affairs as a prime contractor across multiple Veterans Integrated Service Networks on full-and-open (non-set-aside) contracts, with recent direct federal work supplemented by federally funded research grants from the National Institutes of Health focused on precision diagnostics and clinical trial enrollment platforms for kidney disease.

Arkana Laboratories is a for-profit limited liability company headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, structured as a partnership or limited liability partnership. The vendor employs over 25 board-certified renal pathologists delivering diagnostic pathology services including renal biopsy analysis, special stains, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. Capabilities center on STAT renal biopsy testing with reported turnaround times of 24 to 48 hours, anatomic pathology referral laboratory testing, comprehensive kidney tissue analysis, and renal transplant biopsy processing. The vendor competes on full-and-open contract vehicles without set-aside designations, though one single-award BPA with Veterans Integrated Service Network 9 carries a total small business set-aside designation.

Customer concentration sits with the Veterans Health Administration across five regional networks. The top five funding customers by potential value—VISN 17 ($3.1 million), VISN 9 ($1 million), VISN 2 ($754 thousand), VISN 5 ($500 thousand), and VISN 16 ($458 thousand)—account for 98 percent of combined potential value across recent prime awards. By award count, VISN 16 and VISN 9 each hold eight awards, VISN 17 holds four, and VISN 2 holds three, representing 47 percent of all awards in the portfolio and demonstrating sustained recurring volume across multiple VA regions. The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases ranks as the fourth-largest customer by award count with five grants.

Arkana holds four active indefinite delivery contracts and one blanket purchase agreement serving as parent vehicles. The largest is a single-award IDIQ with VISN 17 (ceiling $779 thousand, ultimate completion December 31, 2026) for renal biopsy STAT testing, nephrology laboratory testing, and anatomic pathology referral services performed in San Antonio, Texas, with a guaranteed minimum of $10,000 and maximum of $1 million. A single-award IDIQ with VISN 16 (ceiling $211 thousand, through September 30, 2027) covers STAT renal biopsy laboratory services performed in Little Rock, Arkansas. A single-award IDIQ with VISN 2 (ceiling $360 thousand, through July 9, 2026) provides renal biopsy send-out testing services for Buffalo VA Medical Center and Stratton VA facility. A single-award blanket purchase agreement with VISN 9 (ceiling $450 thousand, through September 30, 2027) covers nephrology testing services. Arkana has also served VISN 5 under definitive contracts valued at $302 thousand and $198 thousand for laboratory testing supporting patients with chronic kidney conditions, performed in Washington, DC. Recent representative prime work includes a $722 thousand delivery order with VISN 17 for renal biopsy testing (ultimate completion December 31, 2029), a $324 thousand definitive contract with VISN 2 for renal transplant services and tissue biopsy processing at James J. Peters VA Medical Center in Bronx, New York (through September 29, 2030), and a $1.4 million purchase order with VISN 17 for anatomic pathology referral laboratory testing services performed in Houston, Texas (ultimate completion May 31, 2027).

Federal grant work targets kidney disease precision diagnostics and clinical innovation. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant of $266 thousand in August 2026 (CFDA 93.855, completing July 31, 2027) to develop a predictive diagnostic test for treatment resistance in acute T-cell mediated rejection of kidney transplants using gene expression profiles from diagnostic kidney biopsy material. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases awarded a Direct to Phase II grant completing August 31, 2026, for development of a proprietary digital platform for precision patient identification and enrollment in clinical trials for rare kidney diseases, and a grant completing August 31, 2024, for smartphone image analysis tools deployed as a mobile application to assess biopsy adequacy during percutaneous renal biopsy procedures. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded a project grant completing February 29, 2024, for development of specific peptide reagents for serologic monitoring of autoantibodies in membranous lupus nephritis. Arkana also serves as a sub-recipient under research grants from Tufts College, performing neuropathological assessment and neurophysiology laboratory work on brain tissue samples related to neurodegeneration and aging (sub-awards dated August 6, 2025, August 1, 2024, and January 2, 2024).

Activity has scaled to nine awards in 2025 following four annually in 2023 and 2024. Four awards (combined potential value $1.7 million) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing recompete exposure in that window. The vendor operates as a pure prime on 95 percent of awards; the remaining 5 percent comprises grant sub-work. SCI-reported invoicing on federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold totaled $181 thousand in FY2025 across roughly 0.3 FTEs, $128 thousand in FY2024 across 0.3 FTEs, and $99 thousand in FY2023 across 0.1 FTEs. On SCI-reportable service contracts, government-paid hourly rates run a median of around $591 per hour, with senior labor pricing reaching through $890 per hour. The vendor self-performs all SCI-captured work without subcontractor engagement on those contracts.

Nephropathology Associates (dba Arkana Laboratories) is a leader in providing pathology services in renal, nerve, muscle and transplantation pathology as well as in specialized diagnostic testing involving electron microscopy, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, biomarker testing, histology and whole-slide imaging, serologic testing, laser capture microdissection, mass spectrometry, in situ hybridization and molecular diagnostics. Our zebrafish laboratory constructs custom genetically modified lines, drug testing and toxicity screening. Our biorepository collects tissue, blood and urine samples for a range of renal diseases. Our laboratory is certified by CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988) and accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP).