Octo cleared for Army brain injury contract
By
Nick Wakeman
Octo Consulting can move forward on a contract to support Army research efforts around traumatic brain injuries now that bid protest hurdles have been cleared.
It has taken two rounds of protests but Octo Consulting can now move forward on a contract to support the Army efforts around traumatic brain injuries.
Octo won the contract last year and has had to weather challenges from disappointed bidders before they finally prevailed.
In the last round, the Government Accountability Office denied a protest by the Federal Acquisition Services Alliant joint venture.
According to the GAO decision, both companies had identical ratings. But Octo’s bid of $24.9 million was $6.5 million below FASA’s bid of $30.5 million.
Octo and FASA competed head-to-head for the task order under the Alliant Small Business contract.
FASA complained that Octo’s proposal didn’t meet the requirements of the solicitation. They also challenged the evaluation of the technical proposals and pricing.
But GAO found the Army acted reasonably and upheld their decision to pick Octo.
This contract supports the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, which is part of the Military Health System. The MHS agency will use the contract to buy IT management, development and support services.
The contract will also support research-and-development efforts around brain injuries and psychological health, including prioritizing research and creating partnerships to improve care.
Octo first won the contract on Sept. 26 and FASA filed a protest, which led the Army to pull back the award back for a re-evaluation. In November, the Army again picked Octo and FASA filed another protest that GAO denied.