NOT-NS-02-004: HIGH THROUGHPUT DRUG SCREENING FACILITY FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE

Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)

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HIGH THROUGHPUT DRUG SCREENING FACILITY FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE Release Date: October 19, 2001 NOTICE: NOT-NS-02-004 RFP Available: NIH-NINDS-RFP-01-06 National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke The Neurodegeneration Cluster of the National Institute of Neurological disorders and Stroke, (NINDS), National Institutes of Health, has a requirement to identify a service facility capable of providing two kinds of expertise to scientists who have identified a potential assay: first, adapting the assay for high throughput applications and second, testing the assay against large, diverse collections of compounds. Neruodegenerative disease assays will be supplied by NINDS investigators as selected by NINDS. NINDS anticipates using the results of the contract to 1) identify compounds, active in neurodegeneration assays, that will be made available to investigators for use as research tools and 2) validate assays as useful High Throughput Drug Screening (HTS) targets, to encourage their use in further drug development. Specific Requirements: 1. Assay Development: Potential assays for testing at the facility will be identified by NINDS. The contractor shall work collaboratively at the facility with investigators that have assays to adapt the assays to HTS format. The goal of this contract will be to develop and screen assays at the rate of approximately three per year. Assays may be cell- or protein-based and will be models of neurodegenerative disease. 2. Compound Libraries: The contractor shall identify large, diverse compound collections suitable for HTS. These libraries will be in the public domain. The contractor shall be responsible for assisting NINDS investigators in obtaining additional quantities of active compounds for their use in research. For example, this assistance may involve identifying a source for purchase or synthesis of particular compounds. 3. Screening: The contractor shall subject the assays to HTS and analyze the results to identify individual compounds that are active in each assay. Compounds will be tested over a limited concentration range and data for active compounds will be gathered for each concentration tested. 4. Data Analysis: The contractor shall perform structure-function analysis of compounds active in individual assays. The contractor will identify common chemical moieties that have activity within a given assay. 5. Quality Control: The contractor shall gather data concerning the consistency of the results obtained for individual screens. At a minimum, this will include the behavior of active compounds in multiple tests at one concentration as well as over a range of concentrations. The behavior of necessary controls in individual screens will be documented in screening reports. Monitoring of all contract work and report deliverables, including quality control, shall be performed by the Contracting Officer and the Project Officer via on-site visits, monthly monitoring of costs, review of quarterly technical reports and review of individual screening reports. Intellectual Property Considerations: NINDS may collaborate with an outside investigator who has proprietary rights to assays that may be adapted for HTS under this contract. The Project Officer will identify this Collaborator at the time of assignment and in this case the following considerations regarding Intellectual Property Rights will be applicable. Under certain conditions the Contractor may be eligible for filing for patent protection to protect any inventions that they may have made during the course of their contract assignments. For example, the Contractor may use proprietary approaches to significantly modify or enhance an assay to make it suitable for HTS. When the original assay comes from an external collaborator with the NINDS, the collaborator’s original discovery needs to be protected. Therefore, the following Intellectual Property Considerations are part of the contract that provides that protection and assures that the collaborator does not lose control of his original discovery. Contractor agrees to promptly notify the NINDS and Collaborator in writing of any inventions made by the Contractor’s principal investigator or any other employees or agents of the Contractor, whether patentable or not, which are conceived and/or first actually reduced to practice in the performance of this study using Collaborator’s assay. Contractor agrees to consult with Collaborator concerning commercialization of this technology. Where practicable and appropriate, Contractor will permit collaborator to participate in commercialization of this technology on terms to be negotiated in good faith by Collaborator and Contractor. Protection of Proprietary Data: The assays to be developed and screened under this contract are to be regarded as proprietary in nature. Data generated using an assay proprietary to a Collaborator will be kept confidential and shared only with the NINDS. The Contractor retains the right to publish and present research results subject to the following terms. Under no circumstances are assays or any information associated with these assays to be released or divulged without prior notification of the Contracting Officer. All articles and /or presentations that pertain to the work to be performed under this contract shall acknowledge the collaborative efforts of all participants, including contributing members of the Contractor’s staff, Collaborating investigators, and NINDS staff as appropriate. Prior to publication, articles shall be submitted to the NINDS Project Officer for review. The contractor shall be required to acknowledge the support of the NINDS whenever publicizing work performed under the contract in any media. Personnel with established expertise in medicinal chemistry, high throughput drug screening, pharmacological structure-function analysis and sufficient seniority and breadth of experience in neurodegenerative disease research to judge the needs of the research community with regard to drug screens for neurodegeneration will be needed to perform this research. It is anticipated that one award may be made for a period of five years in September 2002. Request for Proposals (RFP) NIH-NINDS-01-06 will be AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY in the COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY. It will be available at this website (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/areas/contracts_management_branch/index.htm) 15 or more calendar days after the issuance of this synopsis. OFFERORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ROUTINELY CHECKING THIS WEBSITE FOR ANY POSSIBLE SOLICITATION AMENDMENTS THAT MAY BE ISSUED. NO INDIVIDUAL NOTIFICATION OF ANY AMENDMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the agency. Refer to numbered note 26. INQUIRIES Inquiries may be directed to: Patricia S. Denney, Contracting Officer Contracts Management Branch National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Neuroscience Center, Room 3287 6001 Executive Boulevard, MSC 9531 Bethesda, MD 20892-9531 Tel: (301) 496-1813 Fax: (301) 402-4225 Email: PD22N@NIH.GOV

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