The Department of Defense is offering the Reconstructive Transplant Clinical Network Award to establish a coordinating center for advanced research in reconstructive transplantation.

The RTRP Clinical Network Award mechanism was first offered in FY20, with awards to be made as grants or cooperative agreements. Three applications were received, but none were funded. This FY22 research announcement is being offered through a different type of award mechanism, a Research Other Transaction Award (rOTA) under the authority of 10 USC 4021.

Statement on the Research Other Transaction Agreement: The principal purpose of a rOTA is to carry out non-duplicative basic, applied, and advanced research projects rather than the acquisition of property or services for the direct benefit or use of the government. The anticipated deliverables to the government under a rOTA are reports on research rather than prototypes.

The rOTA requires resource sharing, with government funds not to exceed the total amount provided by other parties to the maximum extent practicable. Offerors will be required to demonstrate how resources (e.g., cash and non-cash) will be made available for this project. The rOTA is intended to promote the use of best business practices and to foster relationships among performers from different sectors.

In addition, as a matter of DOD policy, rOTAs may only be awarded when one or more for-profit firms are to be involved either in the: (1) performance of the research project(s) or (2) commercial application of the research results. A consortium should either include, collaborate with, or involve one or more for-profit firms (e.g., pharmaceutical company to provide medication, rehabilitation clinic to provide services to recipients, etc.) in addition to state or local government agencies, institutions of higher education, or other nonprofit organizations. For the FY22 Clinical Network Award, the for-profit firm may be involved in either Phase 1, Phase 2, or both phases of the award.

The government will enter into negotiations to finalize the terms and conditions of the anticipated Agreement with the presumptive awardee after applications are evaluated in accordance with Section III.B.1 and Section III.B.2 of this Research Announcement. A draft Agreement has been provided for informational purposes. The content of the draft Agreement reflects the government’s baseline terms and conditions for an expenditure-based rOTA and is subject to negotiation upon selection of the most advantageous offeror.

General Information: The RTRP intends to allocate up to $13M to support the RTRP Clinical Network over 6 years, subject to availability of funding. This effort will be executed through a two-phase approach in the form of a single award to the Clinical Network Coordinating Center, hereby referred to as the Coordinating Center. The Coordinating Center will serve as the Clinical Network information and planning nexus, providing administrative, operational, and data management support services to implement Clinical Network activities in a timely manner. The period of performance for Phase 1 is 2 years, with maximum funding of $3M in RTRP funding for Coordinating Center costs. RTRP funding for the Phase 2 is contingent on successful completion of Phase 1 objectives and subject to the availability of funding. The period of performance for Phase 2 is 4 years, with maximum funding of $10M in RTRP funding for Coordinating Center costs and Network Site costs. The Coordinating Center will manage funding to the Network Sites through the execution of subaward agreements for Phase 1 and/or Phase 2 reimbursable activities and for other key collaborators. See Section I.E., Funding, for additional information.