The Naval Medical Research Center this week posted a solicitation for contract support to implement a Peru-based study entitled “Validation of new multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) diagnostic tools in diverse setting.”
The requirements of the contract include:
| Manufacturing and providing the new Colour Test for diagnosing MDR-TB for the study |
| Assisting with the technical training at the research sites in both Iquitos and Lima to include the development of the standard operating procedure for the processing of the sputum samples collected for testing |
| Assisting in the logistical support at both the Lima and Iquitos site to include the shipping of samples to the TB lab at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima for testing |
| Perform and validate the testing of sputum samples collected within the study by comparing the Xpert® MTB/RIF assay (by Cephid, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA), the “Colour Test” (a colorimetric agar culture test), and the BACTECTM Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) test (by Becton Dickinson Microbiology Systems, Sparks, MD, USA) with drug susceptibility testing (DST) when the MGIT is positive for M. tuberculosis |
| Perform up to 2 pilot technical assessment visits at 2 potential overseas sites |
| Assist in the preparation of scientific publications that are generated from this study |
The contract is for a one-year project starting in August 2013. The requirement is also being advertised to local vendors in Peru through the newspaper PERU21.
Further details are available under Solicitation Number: N44852_TBCOLORTEST. The response deadline is July 27, 2013.