Director, USAMRAA, 820 Chandler St, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5014

A -- DUAL USE APPLICATIONS PROGRAM -- ARMY MEDICAL BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT SOL CBD&&&-9802-0001 DUE 032098 POC See Announcement (Site Code DAMD17) DUAL USE APPLICATIONS PROGRAM -- ARMY MEDICAL BAA A. OVERVIEW 1. The US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) announces a program in the area of Dual Use Science and Technology (S&T). This program is being conducted in cooperation with DOD's Dual Use Applications Program (DUAP) managed by the Joint Dual Use Program Office (JDUPO). General information about the DoD's DUAP program can be obtained from the JDUPO homepage http://www.jdupo.darpa.mil/jdupo/ duap.html. USAMRMC seeks projects to create and develop new medical technologies which have potential for both Army and commercial applications. If successfully developed, the technology will have both Army relevance and sufficient potential commercial applications to support a viable production base. Congressional direction requires that at least 50% of the cost of the project under this initiative be provided by industry. The remaining cost of the project (no more than 50%) will be equally shared by the sponsoring service and the DUAP. USAMRMC's envisioned contribution to the 25% of the Fiscal Year 1998 program project cost is approximately $1M. Proposals should include schedules and budgets for a base term not to exceed 24 months. Costed options for an additional period of up to 36 months may be submitted. The Government may fund both base term and options from the present appropriation depending on the content of the proposal, the availability of funds, the fit with other programs and any other considerations necessary to establish and maintain program coherence and balance. The Government may also choose to condition the exercise of options on the availability of future year appropriations or other funding sources. There is no preset dollar range for individual proposals. There is no guarantee that awards will be made in each of the identified topic areas. The Government may award several proposals in a topic area depending in part on the cost of individual proposals and available funding. 2. Topic areas which will be considered in this BAA are found in Section D of this announcement. 3. Proposals that involve either basic research or final product development beyond the stage of product prototype or feasibility demonstration are outside the scope of the competition and will not be acceptable. Readers should note that this is an announcement to declare USAMRMC's intent to competitively fund dual use technology projects and that no other request for proposals, solicitation or other announcement of this opportunity will be made. This notice constitutes USAMRMC's BAA as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). Small businesses are encouraged to participate. Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority institutions (MIs) are encouraged to participate as long as the Congressional requirement for a DUAP contract team to include a "for profit" entity is met. In any case in which the evaluation shows two or more proposals to be substantially equal, preference for award will be given to those proposals which include small businesses, HBCUs and MIs as participants over those which do not. Teaming arrangements among companies are encouraged when the result is a technically stronger proposal. Teaming with a DOD or national laboratory may also be advantageous in many instances. Due to limited funding, the Government reserves the right to limit awards under any topic, and only proposals considered to be of superior quality will be funded. Awards will be made using traditional contracts and/or non-procurement agreements, e.g., Cooperative Agreements and "Other Transactions". 4. Any interested offeror should send fifteen (15) copies of its technical and cost proposals to: U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, ATTN: MCMR-AAA (Craig D. Lebo), 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5014. To be considered for award, the full proposal must be received by March 20, 1998 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A complete copy of this Dual Use Broad Agency Announcement is available at http://www-usamraa.army.mil. Use the buttons to go through Business Opportunities, Broad Agency Announcements, then DUal Use BAA (98). B. TECHNICAL PROPOSAL Technical proposals should not exceed thirty five (35) pages and should include the following three sections: Section 1 -- Executive Summary: Provide a brief technical and business description of the contents of the proposal. The technical area should address the proposal's technical goals, approach, and expected results. The business area should address business and market issues for successful commercialization of the proposal technology. Section 2 -- Technical Issues: Gives a detailed explanation of the technical approach, objectives, staffing and resources relating to the development of the proposed technology for both military and commercial use. Discuss clearly and specifically in realistic terms the technical objectives of this proposed effort, Include a Statement of Work (SOW) that discusses the specific tasks to be accomplished, tied to the specific approach and goals of the project. Section 3 -- Business Issues: Discuss the business issues relating to the commercialization of the proposed development and its impact on the market. Include the benefits to the Department of the Army (DA) and/or Department of Defense (DOD). C. COST/FUNDING PROPOSAL Cost/funding proposals are not restricted in length, have no specific page layout requirements, and should address funding periods of performance. Work breakdown structures and certified cost or pricing data are neither required no desired. Cost/funding proposals should be organized to include four sections in the following order: total project cost, cost sharing and in-kind contributions, cost to the Government, and off-budget supporting resources. These are described in more detail below. Section 1 -- Total Project Cost: This section will give a detailed breakdown of costs of the project. Cost should also be broken down on a task-by-task basis for each task appearing in the statement of work. This should include all of the proposed costs to the Government and cost sharing by the proposer. The following information should be presented in your proposal for each phase of the effort: total cost of the particular project phase; total proposer cost share; funding requested from the Government; and elements of cost (labor, direct materials, travel, other direct costs, equipment, software, patents, royalties, indirect costs, and cost of money). Sufficient information should be provided in supporting documents to allow the Government to evaluate the reasonableness of these proposed costs, including salaries, overhead, equipment purchases, fair market rental value of leased items, and the method used for making such valuations. Profit should not be included as a cost element. Section 2 -- Cost Sharing and In-Kind Contributions: This section will include: (1) the sources of cash and amounts to be used for matching requirements; (2) the specific in-kind contributions proposed, their value in monetary terms, and the methods by which their values were derived; and (3) evidence of the existence of adequate cash or commitments to provide sufficient cash in the future. Affirmative, signed statements are required from outside sources of cash. Proposals should contain sufficient information regarding the sources of the proposer's cost share so that a determination may be made by the Government regarding the availability, timeliness, and control of these resources. For example: How will the funds and resources be applied to advance the progress of the proposed effort? What is the role of any proposed in-kind contributions? Section 3 -- Cost to the Government: This section will specify the total costs proposed to be borne by the Government and any technical or other assistance including equipment, facilities, and personnel of Federal laboratories, if any, required to support these activities. The cost to the Government should be that portion of the proposed effort which is not covered by cost share. The costs incurred and work performed by any DOD or national laboratory "partnering" with the offeror under the proposal shall normally be considered costs of the Government and not costs of the proposer for purposes of the cost-sharing requirement. Proposals should contain sufficient information regarding the resources to be provided by the Government so that an evaluation of their availability, timeliness, and control may be made. Section 4 -- Off-Budget Supporting Resources: This section will show cash or in-kind resources which will support the proposed activity but which are not intended to be included in the total project cost. Items in this category do not count as cost share nor as Federal funds which must be matched. Examples it items to place in this category include: Commitments of cash or in-kind resources from other Federal sources, such as national laboratories, and projections of fee-based income where there is substantial uncertainty about the level which will actually be collected and where the income is not needed to meet cost-share requirements. SECTION D D. TOPIC AREAS Topic 1. Medical- Situation/Information Decision Aides Military medical echelon 1-2 personnel have a vital need for advanced decision aids and visualization tools that rapidly and clearly convey critical biomedical information, and promote understanding of complex health status conditions. Technologies need to be developed to significantly enhance initial determinations of health status, data visualization, medical treatment planning and treatment/evacuation Course of Action (COA) analysis, and monitoring execution of prevention/treatment measures in near real-time. The product of this effort is Common Operating Environment (COE)-compliant applications that perform these functions in conjunction with the medical materiel available to the combat life saver, the combat medic and/or the battalion aid station personnel. The initial focus is on the intelligent systems needed for the LSTAT system (Life Support for Trauma and Treatment). POC: COL Robert Vandre (Fort Detrick) Phone: (301) 619-7919 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $100K Estimated DUAP contribution: $100KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $200K Topic 2. Universal diagnostic system. Currently, serological diagnosis depends on sampling blood, extracting sera, and performing any of a number of tests, each of which is usually designed for a single disease. The antigens used for these tests consist of either native antigen or a derivative of native antigen. This project would find a panel of representative antigens, that singly or in combination were indicative of infectious agent types (including agents that might be used as a biological weapon). Assembling the right group of antigens would make it possible to construct a single test that would rapidly eliminate most extraneous infectious causes of a disease. Following the test, physicians in a civilian or military setting could either make a decision on the cause of disease based on a combination of clinical signs and the test result or order a few specific tests to identify the nature of the infection. POC: MAJ Coleen Martinez (Fort Detrick) Phone: (301) 619-7567 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $100K Estimated DUAP contribution: $100KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $200K Topic 3. Drug development screening technologies. Functional in vitro assays for screening anti-viral candidate drugs for treatment of flaviviruses, bunyaviruses, and alphaviruses. Great advances have been made in anti-viral drugs, especially against HIV but there are currently no systems available for practical, rapid screening of viruses causing diseases like dengue or Japanese encephalitis (flaviviruses), Venezuelan equine encephalitis (bunyavirus), or chikungunya or Eastern equine encephalitis (alphaviruses). A practical in vitro screening method could result in drugs that would shorten the course of widespread diseases like dengue and chikungunya and also possibly prevent the permanent damage caused by many of the encephalitic viruses. POC: MAJ Coleen Martinez (Fort Detrick) Phone: (301) 619-7567 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $100K Estimated DUAP contribution: $100KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $200K Topic 4. Replicative bacterial insecticide for treatment of biting flies that transmit diseases. Toxins produced by bacteria have been commercialized into successful products for treatment of mosquitoes, blackflies, sandflies, and other vectors. None of these products remain active for extended periods of time, making it necessary to reapply the materials at approximately 10-day intervals. Reducing the number of applications by producing a bacterial insecticide that maintains itself by continuous replication of the bacteria would make it possible to treat sites of vectors only once. For civilian applications, this would allow public health agencies to gradually treat all sources until vector populations were reduced to a very low level. A single application for the military would be highly advantageous where access to an area might be limited and where resources for application were scarce. POC: MAJ Coleen Martinez (Fort Detrick) Phone: (301) 619-7567 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $100K Estimated DUAP contribution: $100KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $200K Topic 5. Blood product development technologies The following are technologies needed for emergency hemorrhage control of and to improve acquisition and delivery of blood products to medical personnel when and where needed.: a) dry fibrin sealant bandage; b). eight week liquid red blood cell storage systems; c) rapid tests for blood typing and the detection of blood-borne pathogens; and d) freeze-dried solvent/detergent treated plasma. Specific efforts should be focused on product proof-of-principle. POCs: COL Doris Browne (Fort Detrick) and COL John Hess (Walter Reed Army Institute of Research) Phone: (301) 619-7377 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $300K Estimated DUAP contribution: $300KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $600K Topic 6. Vaccine technology. Recombinant vaccines using cDNA clones with site-directed mutagenesis giving rise to an infectious, avirulent agent suitable for immunization. Replicon vaccine technology is also applied to agents so that immunogenic genetic components of multiple agents are places in a viral vector, replicating in the host and producing immunization without disease. Naked DNA vaccines can also be studied which present agent DNA attached to a gold bead particle and delivered intradermally for immunization. POC: MAJ Kathleen Carr (Fort Detrick) Phone: (301) 619-7891 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $100K Estimated DUAP contribution: $100KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $200K Topic 7. Therapeutics/Scavenger enzymes for therapeutic use. Genetically altered scavenger enzymes may be a feasible therapeutic approach for chemical or biological agents. Enzymes may be derived from site-directed mutagenesis to produce therapeutics. Specific enzyme entities are needed for proof-of-principal testing in animal models of agent exposure. Specific partnerships with Army laboratories that have the animal models is required. POC: MAJ Kathleen Carr (Fort Detrick) Phone: (301) 619-7891 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $100K Estimated DUAP contribution: $100KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $200K Topic 8. Diagnostic technologies. Microchip and DNA technologies can be applied to rapid diagnostic kits. The advent of PCR technology allows highly specific and sensitive assay development against a number of agents. Mutifunctional testing and miniaturization for the items used in field deployments is a requirement for DOD. The diagnostic systems have a target use for infectious diseases, chemical warfare agent exposures, environmental toxicant exposures, and biological warfare agent exposures. POC: MAJ Kathleen Carr (Fort Detrick) Phone: (301) 619-7891 Estimated USAMRMC contribution: $100K Estimated DUAP contribution: $100KM Total Estimated Government Contribution: $200K E. BASIS FOR AWARD: All responses MUST fall under FAR 35.016(a) to be considered; the definitions of basic and applied research can be found at FAR 35.001. Congressional direction requires that at least 50 percent of the cost of a project under this initiative be provided by industry. Award instruments will be "Cooperative Agreements" or "Other Transactions". Proposals meeting stated BAA requirements will be evaluated by scientists or engineers knowledgeable in the topic area. Proposals from industry for the S&T Initiative will be identified and prioritized by USAMRMC. Final selection will be made by the DA Dual Use Applications Program Panel. Evaluations will be conducted using the following criteria (each criteria is of equal importance): 1. QUALITY OF COST SHARE: (the proposer must bear at least 50% of the project cost) Industry costs share will be broken into the following two categories: (a) High Quality -- This basically means industry spending cash to pay for people, materials, equipment, and subcontractors used to carry out the project and the cost to restock inventoried parts and material consumed. Higher quality cost share can include government-reimbursed research and development funds; (b) Low Quality. This includes: in kind, non-financial resources used on the project, such as wear-and-tear on capital assets, value of space being used, foregoing fees or profits, value of intellectual property used on the project, costs occurring before the project, or resources or activities not dedicated to or spent directly on the project or under the direct control of the project management. Proposals that predominately contain high quality cost share should be ranked higher than those containing a large percentage of low quality cost share. 2. IMPACT ON NATIONAL DEFENSE: Projects should focus on technologies that will have a major impact on the cost or performance of future defense communications-electronics systems. Technologies being pursued under this initiative should lead to clear improvements on affordability and/or warfighting capabilities. In general technologies that will have the greatest impact on the Nation's defense will be rated higher as well as those that will be pervasive across a range of defense systems. 3. COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY: It is essential that potential commercial applications be sufficient to support a production base for the technology that would be capable of meeting future defense requirements. A technology that would be incapable of sustaining an economically viable production base without significant military buys should be avoided. The objective is to obtain the economies of scale and accelerated available in commercial for future defense procurements. Projects that can demonstrate this potential will be rated high. 4. TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT APPROACH: A proposal will score well in this area if it has clear objectives and a technical approach with definite decision points and endpoints. Project risks and plans for dealing with them should be clearly laid out. A proposal will scor (0049)

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