On-ramp work begins for $10B military medical research contract
Gettyimages.com / Roberto Gonzalez Saavedra
By
Ross Wilkers
The Defense Health Agency wants small businesses of all categories to weigh in on its plan to bring in more companies three years after the original awards.
The Defense Health Agency wants to grow the pool of small businesses on the military’s main contract vehicle for technology and professional services in support of medical research-and-development efforts.
In May 2022, DHA awarded 56 companies positions on the potential $10 billion Omnibus Military Medical Research and Development IV contract that runs for up to 10 years. Omnibus IV’s main goal is to transition findings and innovations from the R&D phase into medical practice, particularly in combat casualty care.
The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity now helps DHA manage Omnibus IV after USAMRAA’s takeover of post-award administration responsibility.
The Monday release of a new sources sought notice is step one of an on-ramp process to identify more small businesses across all socioeconomic categories that could be interested in the contract.
Omnibus is structured to cover broad markets such as R&D, R&D support services, regulatory processes, and translational science support and services.
The agency defines translational support as its process for taking discoveries in the lab and turning them into solutions that can be applied to patients.
Work under Omnibus will also encompass these 10 program areas:
- Chemical and biological readiness
- Clinical and rehabilitative medicine
- Clinical investigations, graduate health science education, and Military Health System research
- Emerging science and technology
- Genomics and omics-based
- Infectious diseases
- Joint battlefield healthcare
- Medical simulation technologies
- Military health, performance and recovery
- Radiation health effects
Among other items in the request for information, DHA and USAMARAA want respondents to address which market segments they would be interested in submitting a proposal for. Respondents currently certified under the 8(a) program must also provide their respective entry and exit dates.
Responses to the RFI are due no later than 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on April 10.
Omnibus IV has seen approximately $56 million in task order obligations flow through it to-date, according to Deltek data.
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