The Department of Defense is seeking new and innovative ideas for development of technologies to enhance chemical and biological defense against advancing and emerging non-traditional agents (NTAs).
Proposals are sought under a new Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) focused on three major thrusts: filling knowledge gaps on emerging chemical threats in order to develop enhanced defensive capabilities; building necessary spectral and toxicological databases; and developing agile scientific responses to enhance detection, identification, reporting and response capabilities for emerging threats.
Specific topics include:
| Medical Countermeasure Pretreatments for NTA Exposure (e.g. biological, small molecule neutralizing candidates) |
| Centrally Active Nerve Agent Treatment Systems |
| Predictive Toxicology Tools for Enabling Rapid Countermeasure Development |
| Resuspension Factors and Atmospheric Persistence of CB Particulate and Aerosol Threats |
| Methods to Determine Threat Agent Mechanisms for Predicting Reactivity, Fate and Transport Under a Variety of Environmental Conditions or Dispersal Modes |
The solicitation states that the research activities of the contract will involve items defined as meeting the criteria for Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC), and applicable research under the contract must be conducted in accordance with the U.S. Government Policy for Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern.
Chemical and Biological Defense Program’s (CBDP) Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) (also known as DTRA/J9CB) Advanced and Emerging Threats Division is overseeing the BAA. Historically, awards made from DTRA/J9CBS topics have ranged from approximately $175,000 to $5,000,000 with periods of performance ranging 12 to 60 months.
Further details are available under Solicitation Number: HDTRA1-14-17-NTA-BAA. The BAA remains effective for proposal selection for three years from the initial date of issuance with the ability to award contracts for four years.