National Cancer Institute, Office of the Chief, Executive Plaza South, Room 603, 6120 Executive Blvd., Bethesda, Maryland 20892

P -- PLANT COLLECTION AND TAXONOMY SOL NCI-CM-67244-30 DUE 101395 POC ELSA B CARLTON, CONTRACT SPECIALIST, (301) 496-8620 OR THERESE M DICK, CONTRACTING OFFICER, (301) 496-8620. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Treatment (DCT), Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP) anticipates the award of three (3) cost-reimbursement contracts, for a base period of three (3) years, with two (2) one year option years, beginning on or about September 1, 1996. The objective of this project is to establish contracts for the collection and taxonomy of plants from the following regions designated as the following: Task A: tropical Africa, with emphasis on Madagascar; Task B: South East Asia, with emphasis on Papu New Guinea; and Task C: the continental United States of America. The collections will be evaluated as sources of potential antineoplastic and anti-AIDS agents, with the ultimate goal being the discovery of novel structural types which can be developed for the selective treatment of cancer and AIDS in man. The successful offerors will be expected to provide qualified personnel, materials and equipment for the collection, identification, storage and shipping of plant samples (500 per year from each of Africa and South East Asia, and 1000 from the United States) to an NCI designated extraction facility. Collections will comprise approximately 0.3-1.0 kg (dry weight) of each sample, and each plant will be identified as far as possible at the time of collection. Properly prepared voucher specimens for each plant will be collected for the purpose of unambigous identification, and for permanent deposition at a minimum of two (2) herbaria designated by NCI. The contractor will be expected to provide detailed documentation, including complete identification of each plant collected. The collection team should include a qualified plant taxonomist and personnel experienced in plant collection and identification, and having familiarity with the customs of the local populations. The Principal Investigator should be trained in botany of a related field, and should have at least five (5) years of experience in plant collection and identification. It is anticipated that re-collections of up to ten (10) plants per year, in quantities of 10-50 kg, will be required, starting in the second year of the contract. The number of initial small scale collections will be reduced in proportion to the number and size of the large scale re-collections undertaken. Collections will include species from as wide a variety of families genera as possible. A list of genera with number of species collected in each genus since 1986 will be provided in order to aid in the determination of priorities in the collection program. In the case of trees and large shrubs, samples of plant parts may be collected and stored separately for individual evaluation, with each part being considered equivalent to a plant sample. In addition, a list of countries in which collections have been performed, and the number of samples collected in each country, will be provided. The contractor will be responsible for obtaining all necessary permits including visas, collecting, shipping and expert permits from foreign governments and agencies, for delivery of samples and voucher specimens to facilities in the United States. A ''Letter of Collection'' stating NCI's willingness to collaborate with local scientists and/or authorities in the discovery and development of novel drugs from plants collected will be provided to the contractor. The Government anticipates the award of one (1) contract for each of the regions designated in Task A, B, and C. This is a recompetition of a group of contracts performing similar collections. The Request for Proposal RFP will be available on or about August 29, 1995. (0215)

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