The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisitions, Station Support/Simplified Acquisition Branch, on behalf of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), intends to negotiate and award a contract on a noncompetitive basis to Yale University, 105 Wall Street, New Haven, CT, 06511-6614, to identify etiologic factors and novel treatments for childhood-onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) for the NIMH Pediatrics and Developmental Neurosciences Branch (PDN). The period of performance is twelve months.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has a requirement to identify etiologic factors and novel treatments for childhood-onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) for the NIMH Pediatrics and Developmental Neurosciences Branch (PDN) in Bethesda, Maryland. The purpose of this contract will be to assist in the completion of the double-blind, placebo controlled trial of IVIG for PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections). The Yale University Child Study Center, under the direction of Dr. James Leckman, and the National Institute of Mental Health have screened potential subjects and enrolled 32 children who completed blinded ratings three months post infusion. This unique group of subjects will participate under this contract for the identification of factors and treatments. The contractor shall perform comprehensive baseline assessments of participants in protocol 11-M-0058, develop blinded symptom ratings, provide ongoing quality control of data and study procedures, and provide an analysis of study results. The contractor has co-coordinated the intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) trials with NIMH PDN since their inception. There are no other vendors capable of performing these services other than Dr. James Leckman and the Yale University Child Study Center.

This acquisition is being conducted using policies and procedures for solicitation, evaluation, and award prescribed in Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and is exempt from the competition requirements of Part 6. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this synopsis. The determination by the Government not to compete the proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Comments to this announcement, referencing this synopsis number, may be submitted to the NIDA SS/SA Branch, prior to the closing date specified in this announcement, electronically to the attention of John Flannery, at [email protected].