The following roundup is based on recently awarded federal contracts or official notices of intent to issue an award. While the periodic acquisition of laboratory, medical or CBRN equipment and support services is commonplace, we selectively cover these activities for insight into the acquisition and mission priorities of organizations as well as the competitive landscape for suppliers.
DTRA Award to BioFire – 24 Month Diagnostic Challenge
The U.S. Army Contracting Command – APG, Natick Contracting Division, intends to award a firm fixed price contract to Biofire Defense, LLC for 5,000 Severe Acute Systematic Febrile Illnesses (SASFI) custom made prototype Film Array Pouches in support of Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).
The FilmArray is a self-contained diagnostic system that can identify up to 18 pathogens from a single sample using a combination of polymerase chain reaction (PCF) amplification and melting curve analysis.
The SASFI Test pouch kits are needed for the 24 Month challenge that is sponsored by the DTRA. Over a dozen different technologies were vetted for the 24 Month challenge and the Biofire FilmArray is the only system that is approved by DTRA protocol.
Army Award for Vaccine Carrying Cases
The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) in support of U. S. Army Medical Materiel Agency (USAMMA) intends to negotiate solely with Doubleday Acquisitions LLC, DBA Accutemp of Dayton, OH for the procurement of approximately 128 each Vaccine Carrying Cases.
The USAMMA/DOC mission is to provide BIO-Defense vaccine distribution and support to the Department of Defense. Vaccines are temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals that must be maintained between specific temperature ranges during transport.
This product is used for the distribution or re-distribution of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals for short movement of less than 24 hours. Cold chain storage containers must maintain the vaccine at a temperature range between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. The standards for evaluating the containers are outlined in MIL-STD-810G, Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Testing. The Distribution Operations Center has initiated a testing program for products intended for military environments.
DHS Award to Tetracore for BioThreat Assays
The DHS Directorate of Science and Technology, Chemical and Biological Defense Division (CBD) proposes to enter into a sole source award to Tetracore Inc., Rockville, MD for purposes of continuing the development and testing and evaluation of its Lateral Flow environmental detection assays using its proprietary reagents and licensed methods to complete the remaining five assays.
Tetracore has possession of the necessary biological select and non-select live agent validation panels and materials required to perform in-house test and evaluation under BSL-3 level conditions in their laboratory for all of the LFAs under development in this effort. These are privately owned strains on site at Tetracore, and represent a unique capability at Tetracore that is the result of many years of performing this type of work.
These materials and strains also represent a subset of the full PHAA panels of select agents, their near-neighbors and assorted environmental strains that are necessary to complete the validation.
FBI Award to Qiagen for IED DNA Analysis
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intends to negotiate a one-time sole source contract with Qiagen, Inc., of Valencia, CA for two Qiacube Extraction Robots and associated modified protocols.
The FBI performs DNA analysis of explosives and explosive residues of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from around the world. In order to analyze specimens that are submitted, the DNA is extracted. This analysis is critical for trending to obtain viable and useful intelligence.
The Qiacube Extraction Robots with their associated modified protocols will support the FBI’s analysis capability by allowing teams to expedite current production levels. This capability supports continued operations, avoids incompatibility issues, unnecessary costs and enhances FBI capabilities.
“The Qiacube Extraction Robot is a requirement of the FBI to ensure full utilization of all IED exploitation results,” states the announcement. “No other device matches the compatibility necessary to maintain agency testing standards.”
DTRA 25M Award for DTRIAC Services
Quanterion Solutions Inc., Utica, New York, is being awarded a $25,370,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide services for the operations of the Defense Threat Reduction Information Analysis Center (DTRIAC), located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and the support office at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Services include conducting analytical activities, preserving and expanding the knowledge base, providing research related to DTRA mission areas, conducting outreach to the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive community on combating weapons of mass destruction topics, and maintaining the information technology readiness and innovation potential to further advance information sharing.
The DTRIAC manages a vast collection of unclassified and classified knowledge bases. The DTRIAC acquires digests, analyzes, evaluates, synthesizes stores, publishes, and disseminates scientific and technical information related to all DTRA mission areas. This procurement was posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website and five offers were received. Funding and work location will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 11, 2019.Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and Utica, New York. The contracting activity is the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (HDTRA1-14-D-0009).
Veterans Affairs Award to Cepheid – MRSA, C. Diff Tests
The Department of Veterans Affairs, NCO8 VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan, Puerto Rico intends to negotiate a commercial sole source contract with CEPHEID of Sunnyvale, CA. The VA requires
MRSA Reagent Kits for an estimated 1000 tests per month using GENEXPERT equipment, as well as Clostridium difficile (C. diff) toxin test kits.
NOAA Award to Mercury Sciences – Brevetoxin Detection
Mercury Science Inc. of Durham, North Carolina has been awarded a $24,578.00 contract by NOAA to provide purified monoclonal antibodies which specifically bind brevetoxins 2 and 3, the toxins which cause neurotoxic shellfish poisoning.
The vendor shall provide the NOAA Center for Costal Fisheries and Habitat Research with three separate purified monoclonal antibodies which bind brevtoxin-2, 3. The monoclonal antibodies will be used in our laboratory to detect low levels brevetoxin in environmental samples.
USAMRIID Award to EMD Millipore
The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) in support of U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) intends to negotiate solely with EMD Millipore Corporation of Billerica, MA for the procurement of reagents and reagent supplies.
Specifically required are the MILLIPLEX MAP Human Cytokine/Chemokine Magnetic Bead Panel and the MILLIPLEX MAP Human Soluble Cytokine Receptor Panel. These items are required for use in the Luminex xMAP multiplex cytokine/chemokine assays and EMD Millapore is the only company capable of producing the needed reagent and reagent supplies.
CDC Award for PacBio Lab Supplies
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD), Respiratory Diseases Branch (RDB) in Atlanta, GA, intends to award a sole source firm fixed price Purchase Order to Pacific Biosciences (aka PacBio) of Menlo Park, CA, for supplies to be used on PacBio RS II, a Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) DNA Sequencing System.
PacBio is the only company that provides reagents and plasticware that are compatible for use with the PacBio RSII instrument being used by this research team. This purchase includes items such as DNA Sequencing Bundles, SMRTBell Template Prep Kits, DNA/Polymerase Binding Kits and other items specifically designed for use with the RS II Sequencing system.
NIH Award for Protein Nano-Immunoassay System
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a requirement for an acquisition of one Protein Nano-Immunoassay System on a brand name or equal basis to perform high content protein analysis of biological samples. This equipment shall be used by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Division of Preclinical Innovation (DPI).
FBI Award to Thermo Electron NA
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intends to award a non-competitive, sole source contract to Thermo Electron North America LLC of West Palm Beach FL.
The FBI has a mission to perform examinations as a significant part of counterterrorism exploitation. The FBI currently has the requirement for one Thermo Fisher Scientific TSQ 8000 Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer system to support chemical analysis of explosives and explosive residues of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from around the world. This analysis is critical for trending to obtain viable and useful intelligence.
The Thermo Fisher Scientific TSQ 8000 Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer will support the FBI’s analysis capability by allowing teams to expedite current production levels. This capability supports continued operations, avoids incompatibility issues, unnecessary costs and enhances FBI capabilities. No other device matches the compatibility necessary for the FBI. Thermo Fisher Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer is the only device that will meet the requirements of the FBI.
DTRA Award to Laurus Systems
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency is awarding a contract to Laurus Systems, Inc. for $355,690 to provide 2 ea (for the base period and each option period) FLIR model EOD idF2-LGH kits including:
- (2 ea) R400, IDF2-LGH, LaBr3(Ce) IdentiFINDER 2,
- (1 ea) carrying case with source kit,
- (2 ea) belt holsters and wrist straps,
- (2 ea) battery chargers,
- (2 ea) rechargeable battery packs, plus spare pack for non-rechargeables,
- (2 ea) mini USB interface adapter boxes,
- (2 ea) USB to mini USB cables,
- (2 ea) operator manuals
NIEHS Award to Molecular Devices LLC
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Molecular Devices LLC for a Molecular Devices SpectraMax M5 Microplate/Cuvette Reader. This equipment will serve as a critical role to the NIEHS in performing ongoing research projects for assays and the preparation of publications resulting from the current studies.
Army UPLC System Award to Waters Technologies
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) has a requirement to procure two Ultra High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) systems. ERDC-CERL intends to sole source this acquisition to Waters Technologies Corporation (Waters).
The current liquid chromatography (LC) systems used by ERDC/CERL are out of order and due to advanced age (17 years old and beyond the expected lifespan for an LC, ~10 years) cannot be easily serviced.
CDC Award for Clostridium Difficile Nanobodies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to award a sole source firm fixed price purchase order to University of Maryland for nine different nanobodies to optimize development of a method to detect Clostridium difficile toxins in clinical samples such as serum and stool.
The agency requires a high degree of ruggedness in the assays for C. difficile toxins to make clinically relevant measurements in complex matrices. These nanobodies must have a very high affinity to the toxins.
“The nanobodies to the Clostridium difficile toxins from the University of Maryland are the only nanobodies with high enough affinity to achieve the requirements of the assays in the serum and stool and the only vendor for these nanobodies,” states the announcement.
USAMRIID Award to SPEX SamplePrep
U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) in support of the U.S. Army Medical Research of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) intends to buy two (2) 1600 MiniG and related items manufactured by SPEX SamplePrep on a brand name only basis.
The items are needed at USAMRIID, Fort Detrick, Maryland. This piece of equipment is critical to safely homogenize medically important arthropods, especially hard and soft tick species, while simultaneously reducing risk of cross contamination. Market research efforts failed to identify any other instrument with the same specifications/characteristics that can satisfy the Government’s requirement. As this is a brand name only requirement, only SPEX SamplePrep and its authorized resellers will be considered for award.
Army Award for BSL 3 Operations
The U.S. Army has awarded a contract to Installation One, Inc., of Woodland Hills CA to provide full maintenance, repair, and replacement services for the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center’s (CRDAMC) Biosafety Level 3 (BSL 3) laboratory security systems. The contractor will ensure continued compliance with applicable regulatory requirements including biological and select agents and toxin laws and regulations.
Navy Award to FLIR for Mass Spec Maintenance
The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), intends to procure on a sole source basis 12 months of preventive maintenance support for eighteen (18) FLIR Griffin Gas Chromatograph /Mass Spectrometer systems, part number 400EXTWAR5. This is proprietary equipment and services that can only be procured through FLIR Detection, Inc. of Stillwater, OK.
State Department Award – CBRN Course Materials
The Department of State intends to award a contract to Nationwide Supplies of Garland Texas for the following items:
- Jane’s CBRN Response Handbook, 4th Edition English, 26 EA
- Nonconducting Articulating Fiberscope ITI Model 177708, 8mm 1M length, 1 EA
- D-Tect Systems Mini rad-D Detector Model MRD 1260-100 Model MRD 1260-100, 6 EA
- Leica Distro D2 Laser Distance Meter p/n 763495, 24 EA
- Dupont Tychen Suit LV 127T or LV128T, SZ XL, 1 EA
- Onguard Poly Max Boots16″ Chemical resistant, SZ 12, 1 PR
- Contemporary US Wall Map Paper, 53″ x 33″, #INT USA 310TB, 1 EA
- First Alert Smoke Detector Ionizing, SKU SCO5CN, 1 EA
- Pelican Transport Case w/ Padded Dividers, Large, 1, EA;
- Butyl Gloves 25 mil, 14″, SZ 10, 2 PR
- Nitrile Gloves Flock lines, 17 mil, 13″, SZ 10, 2 PR
Navy Award to Morphix Technologies – Chemical Detection
The NAVSEA NSWC – Dahlgren is awarding a contract valued at $26,724.00 to Morphix Technologies, Inc. of Virginia Beach VA for the Chameleon U.S. Navy Deployment Kit, Bag of 6 Cassettes, 600 EA; and Chameleon Training Stater Kit, 50 EA.
NAMRU-6 Influenza Research in Peru
The Naval Medical Logistics Command (NMLC) intends to award a sole source to Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) of San Martin de Porres, Lima, Peru, for the performance of research and development (R&D) in support of the Naval Medical Research Unit Six (NAMRU-6). This requirement is to provide research and development services in support of “The Burden of Disease and Epidemiology of Influenza in Pampas de San Juan de Miraflores, Lima, Peru” project.
UPCH has been the main partner for NAMRU-6’s research activities since 1983 and is a leading medical and health education center in Peru. This project will support the continuation of research designed, planned, and executed jointly by NAMRU-6 and UPCH. This project will involve continuing the prospective cohort study in aforementioned city during a period of up to two years. The objective of this study is to continue to provide high quality evidence based information about the seasonal influenza epidemiology that can serve as substrate for decision makers in the Peruvian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture in Peru.
Additionally, UPCH has developed and possesses the unique technological capability and expertise required to support “The Burden of Disease and Epidemiology of Influenza in Cusco and Puerto Maldonado, Peru” project. The research team leader has developed a unique protocol for working with the influenza virus and successful completion of this research is dependent upon the particular expertise and resources provided by UPCH. Other sources would not be able to continue the effort because the current research team leader has developed a research process to compare the different areas of the study. Any change in the process to execute the protocol would hinder the comparison between studies and could compromise the validity of the research.
Sources: FedBizOpps, Defense.gov