BARDA's Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV) Advance Notice

ADVANCED NOTICE 

This notice serves as a notice of the Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority’s (BARDA) intent to proceed with a program as outlined below. This notice in no way commits the Government to proceeding with any solicitation.  

Title: BARDA’s Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV) 

To respond better to future public health challenges and emergencies, developing a more specific and rapid acquisition vehicle is vital. The bold vision of medical countermeasure (MCM) development expected under the American Pandemic Preparedness Plan (APPP) and the National Biodefense Strategy requires that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) complement its current partnering/acquisition capabilities to develop the MCMs needed for biothreat preparedness and response. Using BARDA’s Other Transaction authority*, BARDA intends to partner with a Consortium Management Firm (CMF) to establish and operate the Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV).  This is intended to bring speed, flexibility, the right tools, planning, and consistency to the acquisition process, which in turn, will help advance health security and enhance preparedness for response to the next pandemic or other public health emergency.  

BARDA’s RRPV consortium will be a multi-purpose acquisition vehicle designed to facilitate Research and Development (R&D) of MCM products including Vaccines (Vx), Therapeutics (Tx), and Medical Technology (MedTech) products, from early-stage development through advanced development, procurement, sustainment, and commercialization, including manufacturing infrastructure development. When coupled with existing partnering mechanisms such as the BARDA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), the RRPV will serve as a comprehensive platform to support future BARDA requirements, as BARDA implements new programs in alignment with National and HHS strategies, subject to dedicated appropriations and need.  

Anticipated Minimum Eligibility Requirements:  

The U.S. Government (USG) envisions partnering with a CMF that has direct experience of:

(1) Operating a consortium (or similar effort) that successfully identified qualified and technically applicable R&D partners for the USG;

and

(2) Supporting product development from “Proof of Concept,” advanced development, and possible commercialization and sustainment through complex problem spaces that require rigorous documentation.   

This notice does not constitute a call for submissions or a promise to issue a call for submissions in the future. This notice does not commit the USG to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Updates to the details provided could arise based on information and insight gained in the interim. Furthermore, BARDA is not at this time seeking proposals, and will not accept unsolicited proposals.  

It is anticipated that BARDA may release a solicitation for this requirement as early as June 2023. Once released, we encourage all responsible sources that meet the minimum eligibility criteria detailed above, to submit a proposal, which will be considered by BARDA. Interested parties should monitor this site (www.sam.gov)  and other BARDA communication channels (e.g. https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov/, www.drive.hhs.gov) for updates on the potential release of a solicitation.  

Note that all respondents must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM): https://www.sam.gov. 

Questions 

Please submit all questions to R2PV@hhs.gov. While we do not guarantee all questions will be answered, submitted questions and accompanying answers may be made public and would be anonymized and contain no identifying information. 

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 

Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response (ASPR)  
Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority (BARDA) 

400 7th St. SW 

Washington, District of Columbia 20024 

* See 42 USC § 247d–7e(c)(5)(A).