RFI – National Gene Vector Biorepository and Coordinating Center

A Request for Information (RFI) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) seeks responses from small businesses regarding their ability to support the National Gene Vector Biorepository and Coordinating Center (NGVB).

The NGVB is an important component in National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI)  current suite of three gene therapy resource programs, which also includes the Gene Therapy Resource Program (GTRP) and the Center for Fetal Monkey Gene Transfer (CFMGT). The three programs, NGVB, GTRP, and the CFMGT, provide unique, yet complementary, translational resources to investigators. The NGVB provides gene therapy investigators with a variety of services that can enhance their research.

The NGVB has its origins in the relatively early days of gene therapy when in 1995 when the then NIH National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) launched the Native Gene Vector Laboratories (NGVL) Program for gene therapy researchers in the extramural community. The NGVL produced clinical-grade gene therapy vectors for researchers to use in human gene therapy trials.

The NGVL ran through the end of 2006, but as other vector production programs became available the NCRR transitioned it into the National Gene Vector Biorepository (NGVB) and Coordinating Center at Indiana University in 2008. The emphasis now was no longer on vector production but on the types of important translational resources that the NGVB currently offers.

When the NIH established the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), the NCRR was phased out and the NGVB was transferred to NHLBI. This transfer was accomplished as a P40 grant in April 2012 and is currently operating under this mechanism. However, NHLBI now seeks to convert the support from a grant to a contract.

The services currently offered by the NGVB, which are still expected under the contract mechanism, are focused on four main areas:

• Reagent repository
• Pharmacology and toxicology resources
• Insertional site analysis on clinical trial specimens
• Archiving services

Small business concerns are invited to submit capability statements before January 30, 2017. Further details are available via Solicitation Number: HHS-NIH-NHLBI-SBSS-18HV00004R.