Reading Room Production — page 408

PN wa we a ae ee OM I A. th wwe ke ee ee Fl oe Pea Me a OO ee OA rma " ~f£o" servicing Determination and Findings Authority to enter into an Interagency Agreement under the Economy Act 4) Organization(s) and alternative approach(es) contemplated, the anticipated benefits to the NIAID; the anticipated costs, including associated fees or other compensation; and the contract/order placement timeframe and; 5) Tradeoffs (cost, schedule, performance) among the approaches considered and; 6) Conclusion that the contract to be awarded by the selected servicing organization is the most advantageous alternative to the Government, notwithstanding fees and the increased risk associated with assisted contracting; and: 7) Steps taken to ensure that contract funding will comply with the bona fide needs rule and the Anti-Deficiency Act. There is a current bona fide need to assess the impact of aerosol particle size on Ebola virus disease in NHPs. The main factors in favor of this IAA are schedule and performance. DHS has the ability to begin these studies in FY18, faster than could be accessed through a task order. The equipment , systems and expertise to perform complex aerosol studies is already in place. The alternative approach considered was issuing a task order under DMID's "Animal Models of Infectious Diseases" IDIQ contract. Using this IAA will be faster due to the lead time required for a new task order combined with limited availability of non-human primate space (NHP) at other Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4) laboratories. Unlike BSL4 labs accessible via the IDIQ, the DHS lab has current available capacity to perform studies. In addition, DHS has unique expertise in generation, analysis and delivery of aerosolized pathogens. This is the most advantageous alternative to get studies initiated in FY18. For the studies to be performed with NHPs at DHS, this mechanism will be faster than a task order due to the lead time required for a new task order combined with limited availability of NHP space at other Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4) labs. DHS has available capacity to initiate studies in FY18 combined with required expertise in aerosol generation, analysis and delivery.