The Biological and Emerging Infections Research Resources Program (BEI-RRP)   4

Background
The BEI-RRP is a re-competition of the current Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Biological Resource Repository (MID-BRR), contract # HHSN272201600013C, which was awarded in 2016 to American Type Culture Collection (ATCC). The BEI-RRP will continue to serve as a vital central repository for quality-assured organisms, reagents, tools, services, and information related to the NIAID research portfolio and priorities in infectious disease, including Category A, B, and C priority pathogens, emerging infectious diseases; HIV/AIDS; and non-pathogenic microbes. The program is expected to serve approximately 12,000 registered users from the U.S. and other countries, and will include approximately 17,000 unique items in the public BEI-RRP catalog.

Work Details
The contractor shall provide services and capabilities for acquiring, receiving, storing, authenticating, producing, distributing, and deaccessioning organisms and reagents related to a wide range of biological and chemical materials for infectious disease research. This includes performing assay development and optimization, whole genome sequencing, diagnostic evaluation and validation, large-scale production of pathogens for pre-clinical studies, developing and maintaining an integrated system to manage material inventory and facilitate access to information and data related to material inventory management.

The contractor should also provide capacity to receive, store and distribute materials under Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) compliant conditions. Additionally, the contractor should support technology transfer and execution of Material Transfer Agreements needed for acquisition and distribution of materials. A Quality Assurance Program should be provided along with support for communications and collaborations with the scientific community.

Period of Performance
The anticipated start date is on/or about March 1, 2023 with a one-year base period and six one-year Option periods all accounting to 54.75 FTE each. The contract will also provide for Options for increased level of effort up to an additional 54 FTE annually.

Place of Performance
Place of performance is unknown at this time.