REQUEST FOR PRE-PROPOSALS – Biological Sequencing and in Field Sample Preparation for JPEO CBRND

This requirement will be handled through the procedures established in the Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement (BOTAA) Supporting Other Transaction Authority Agreements for Prototype Development Efforts for the JPEO CBRND – Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (“JPEO-CBRND CWMD BOTAA-24-01”). Please review the BOTAA announcement and submission requirements in full prior to submitting a Pre-Proposal.

Ensure that your submission references “Far-Forward Biological Sequencing (FFBS).” Interested / capable parties are encouraged to submit Pre-proposals through BOTAA NLT April 10, 2024. The full request for pre-proposals along with the draft performance work statement (PWS) are attached to this posting.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): If a specific question is not noted on this list, it is not relevant at this time. Additional opportunities for questions will be provided to vendors which the Government decides to invite to the request for full proposal (RFFP).

OTA Process: Performance work statement (PWS) is not final. The PSpec will be sent directly to vendors the Government chooses to invite to submit proposals under the request for full proposal (RFFP). It will be important to narrow your focus on the BOTAA pre-proposal process, outlined in section III.B.1, when it comes to submission of the pre-proposal instead of focusing on the PWS.

Mention of “options” in the PWS refer to the base award under the OT aside from C7 (First Article Tests) and C8 (Full Rate Production) where follow-on awards can be considered. Pursuant to 10 USC 4022 (f), after successful completion of this effort, the Government may award a follow-on production contract or transaction to the participants without the use of competitive procedures. This may include low-rate initial production (LRIP) and/or full-rate production (FRP).

GFE: None provided.

Incremental Approach: Increment 1 will leverage manual sample preparation, combined with nanopore sequencing technology. United States Special Operation Command (USSOCOM) is engaging with industry for future increments through a SOFWERX investment.

Increment 2 will focus on automating the sample preparation process and meeting any key performance parameters (KPP) thresholds that were unmet in Increment 1. As the market for sequencers develops, we will leverage competition to reduce costs and increase consumable shelf life. Regarding TRL, keep in mind we are looking at what can be accomplished now and what will pertain to future increments. If a vendor can partially meet the requirements, we would recommend they still submit a pre-proposal.

We highly recommend organic partnerships with other vendors if possible, we are not opposed to multiple vendors meeting different components. Our timeline is aggressive with developmental testing and evaluation (DT&E) and operational test and evaluation (OT&E) beginning as soon as possible in FY25. For pre-proposals, questions can be directed to the FFBS team (APM: hope.e.poster.mil@army.mil, T&E Lead: jonathan.p.sabol2.civ@army.mil, Technical POC: robert.c.bernhards.civ@army.mil).

Once we get to the full proposals stage, all communications will go through the contracting team (AO: alex.m.schupp.civ@army.mil, Specialist: kevin.t.rohe.civ@army.mil). For Pre-Proposals, a rough order of magnitude (ROM) is sufficient. If a vendor is invited to submit RFFP, then detailed cost estimates will be needed as outlined in section III.B.2; Full Proposals, of the BOTAA document. A request for information (RFI) was released by the CWMD OT Consortium in September that was similar to this request.

This is a new contracting vehicle that has just been published, separate from CWMD Consortium. The CWMD Consortium forecasted RPP for FFBS has now been pulled down; we are no longer going that route. Where the PWS reads “customer test” it should read “EMD testing”.

Size/Weight/Power: No specialized adapters are necessary, standard cables are acceptable if they are compatible with the sequencing device. Adapter weight can be additional to the size/weight/power requirement listed in the pre-proposal. Data Rights/IP rights do not need to be provided with preproposal submissions. Cover page and/or table of contents will not count toward the 11-page limit for pre-proposal. The Wednesday, April 10, 2024, deadline is final for pre-proposal.