THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS (RFQ); IT IS STRICTLY A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). NEITHER UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS NOR ANY OTHER KINDS OF OFFERS WILL BE CONSIDERED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI. NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED PURSUANT TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

1.0 DISCLAIMER: This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kind of offers will be considered in response to this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. At this time, questions concerning the composition and requirements for a future RFP will not be entertained.
2.0 SUBJECT: The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is a premier Department of Defense (DoD) biomedical research organization constantly relevant, integrating basic research and advanced technology that protects, projects, and sustains the Warfighter today, invents global medical solutions for the future, and keeps the Warfighter on point for the Nation. We host two Centers of Excellence for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience Research and for Military Infectious Disease Research, each center ranging from blast induced neurotrauma to malaria vaccine development.

3.0 BACKGROUND: The Wound Infections Department (WID) within the Bacterial Diseases Branch (BDB) at WRAIR conducts research to defeat combat-related wound infections. WID conducts requirements-driven programmatic research using a multi-disciplinary approach to characterize wound pathogenesis and develop novel antimicrobial countermeasures for wound infections of Service Members. The WID includes the WRAIR X-ray Crystallography Center, which provides structure-based drug design services to WRAIR, DoD labs, industry, and academic collaborators to support the development of therapeutic and prophylactic countermeasures against bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

4.0 RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS: Respondents should address the following in their capabilities statement:
The scope of this effort requires the contractor to have the technical expertise and support services necessary to perform in-silico screening of commercially available database(s) for novel small- molecule drug discovery, docking of drug candidates into protein targets, and performing molecular modeling in support of the WID and BDB at WRAIR. The contractor shall secure the provisions necessary to meet WID objectives and perform the tasks described in the PWS. To meet the objectives, the contractor shall identify novel small-molecule drug candidates that may inhibit the function of the protein targets, model drug candidates bound to the protein targets, and perform molecular modeling for drug candidate enhancement.

5.0 CONTACT INFORMATION: All information regarding Capabilities Statements or any other proprietary information relative to this RFI shall be submitted via email to [email protected] no later than 12:00 p.m. E.S.T. on Wednesday, 7 August 2019.