Related Announcements

None

Issued by

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Purpose

This is a time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI), the purpose of which is to assess the highest priority needs for immunoreagents (specifically monoclonal antibodies and aptamers) against ferret and hamster antigens. This RFI is not a request for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This RFI is being issued for the purpose of obtaining knowledge and information for project planning purposes.

Background

Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) and Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) have been employed to study the pathogenesis of a variety of human pathogens over the past several decades. However, the lack of immunoreagents to assess ferret and hamster immune responses represents a major barrier in the utility of these animal models to study pathogenesis and host immunity.

In an effort to broaden the utility of these animal models, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is currently funding several contracts to develop and validate monoclonal antibody and aptamer reagents against ferret and hamster immunoproteins. In planning for future investments, NIAID is soliciting input from the research community to identify the ferret and hamster immunoreagents of greatest need.

Information Requested

This RFI seeks broad input from stakeholders throughout the scientific research community regarding the following topics:

• Describe your experience using ferrets and/or hamsters for research.
• Describe your thoughts on “high” priority molecular targets on ferret or hamster cells for which immunoreagents are critically needed.
• Describe any additional “moderate” or “lower” priority (molecular) targets on ferret or hamster cells for which immunoreagents would aid in research.
• Provide your thoughts on which molecular targets are and/or should be the highest priority.

How to Submit a Response

Responses to this RFI must be directed to Dr. Chelsea Lane via email at mary.lane@nih.gov.

Responses must be received by January 4, 2022.

Responses to this RFI are voluntary. Do not include any proprietary, classified, confidential, trade secret, or sensitive information in your response. The responses will be reviewed by NIAID staff, and individual feedback will not be provided to any responder. The Government will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion. The Government reserves the right to use any submitted information on public NIH websites, in reports, in summaries of the state of the science, in any possible resultant solicitation(s), grant(s), or cooperative agreement(s), or in the development of future funding opportunity announcements.

This RFI is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation, grant, or cooperative agreement, or as an obligation on the part of the Federal Government, the NIH, or individual NIH Institutes and Centers to provide support for any ideas identified in response to it. The Government will not pay for the preparation of any information submitted or for the Government’s use of such information. No basis for claims against the U.S. Government shall arise as a result of a response to this request for information or from the Government’s use of such information.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

M. Chelsea Lane, Ph.D.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Email: mary.lane@nih.gov