THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is performing a "market search" for large and small businesses in preparation for a future procurement. Information submitted in response to this notice is merely used for internal market research purposes and no feedback will be offered to the interested parties that submit a capability statement. The EPA has a need for a contractor to provide the Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) with support for a modified subchronic inhalation study involving Bacillus anthracis Ames strain spores. In particular, this study will require a contractor to obtain and prepare at least 120 rabbits for subchronic exposures and monitoring for 45 straight days, and for continued monitoring up to six months following the last exposure dose day. The contractor must be able to prepare and characterize B. anthracis Ames strain spores in accordance with a specific preparation protocol. The contractor shall provide EPA-NHSRC with characterization results including, representative digital images of spores and culture plates, and electronic copies of spore particle size measurements and distributions. All work shall be conducted in certified Bio-Safety Level 3 laboratories. Rabbits shall be placed into a plehtysmography chamber, passed into a Class III cabinet system, and aerosol challenged with targeted inhaled low doses of 10, 50, 100, and 1,000 Colony Forming Units (CFUs) of B. anthracis Ames strain spores. Test conditions and physiological responses shall be monitored in accordance with the specified study design. Measured parameters will include hematology, clinical chemistry, bacteremia, toxemia, and seroconversion. Each animal shall be observed at least twice daily and, if necessary, handled to appraise its physical condition. All animals shall be subjected to a full gross necropsy and histopathology on the respiratory tract, all gross lesions, and other potential target organs. Specific areas to be addressed in capability packages submitted by respondents are as follows: (1) Capabilities to perform low dose subchronic inhalation rabbit exposure studies using dangerous pathogens; (2) Availability of Bio-Safety Level 3 laboratories for the handling of B. anthracis Ames strain spores; (3) Availability of a large animal exposure system that can generate precise and low aerosol doses. It is anticipated that the contract will be a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Completion Type contract with a two year period of performance. The applicable NAICS code is 541712 (research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences [except biotechnology] with a size standard of 500 persons. In the capabilities statements, contractors should provide their size status for the above referenced NAICS code, (i.e. large, small) and whether or not they are a certified hub zone, 8(a), women-owned, small-disadvantaged and/or disabled veteran owned concern. As a reminder, small businesses are required to perform at least 50 percent of the costs of the contract performance with their own personnel (FAR 52.219-14). The EPA reserves the right to set this action aside for small businesses. Responses to the above should be submitted to
[email protected] no later than 14 calendar days from the date of posting. A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP), resulting from this sources sought synopsis.