The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has quietly dropped a pre‑solicitation notice for a major, long‑term contract to sustain and expand the Vaccine Medical Countermeasures (MCMs) for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Program, including the U.S. National Pre‑pandemic Influenza Vaccine Stockpile (NPIVS).
The notice, posted July 30, 2026 under solicitation number 75A50126R00001, is not yet a full Request for Proposals. Instead, it’s a clear heads‑up to licensed influenza manufacturers that BARDA is preparing to lock in multi‑year partners to keep pandemic influenza vaccines and adjuvants ready to move.
What BARDA Is Looking For
Under this forthcoming IDIQ contract, BARDA intends to partner with one or more contractors who can:
Provide vaccine MCMs, including vaccines, antigens, and adjuvants, for pandemic preparedness and real‑time public health emergency response.
Produce antigen and vaccines against influenza viruses and other viruses with pandemic potential as required.
Manufacture antigens, adjuvants, and/or vaccines to improve influenza vaccines where feasibility data already exists.
Support rapid FDA regulatory decisions and manufacturing readiness by generating and submitting complete data packages (analytical, nonclinical, clinical, and CMC), including data generated during interpandemic periods.
This work sits at the core of BARDA’s Pandemic Vaccines and Adjuvants Program, which maintains NPIVS stockpiles of bulk antigens for strains like H5Nx, H7Nx, H9Nx, H1N1v, and H3N2v plus adjuvants, and is expected to integrate future licensed mRNA pandemic influenza vaccines as those come online.
Who Can Compete: Mandatory Qualifications
BARDA is making the playing field explicit: only established influenza vaccine manufacturers are eligible. To be considered for award, Offerors must:
Produce vaccines against influenza and influenza strains with pandemic potential; and
Demonstrate successful experience manufacturing influenza vaccines by either:
Holding a U.S. influenza vaccine license, or
Having developed an influenza vaccine with a BLA submitted for a seasonal or pandemic influenza indication.
If you don’t meet one of these two bars, this contract is out of reach. For everyone else, this is a rare opportunity to anchor long‑term NPIVS participation and pandemic vaccine production under a single vehicle.
Contract Shape And Timeline
BARDA’s pre‑sol lays out several key mechanics:
Notice type: Pre‑solicitation (not yet an RFP); full evaluation criteria will follow in the RFP.
Competition: Full and open; NAICS 541714 (R&D in biotechnology), size standard 1,000 employees.
Contract form: Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) with both cost‑reimbursement and firm‑fixed‑price line items.
Period of performance: Base plus options totalling 60 months, extendable to 120 months if all options are exercised.
RFP release: Anticipated on SAM.gov in August 2026; Offerors must monitor SAM for the official posting and amendments.
Award timing: BARDA expects to award in or around August 2027, with performance primarily in U.S. facilities and contracting managed out of ASPR/BARDA’s office at 400 7th Street SW in Washington, D.C.
As always, Offerors must be fully registered in SAM.gov prior to submitting proposals.
Why This Matters For Pandemic Preparedness
This NPIVS contract is not another incremental RFI on a single antigen or platform. It is BARDA’s way of:
Locking in long‑horizon relationships with licensed influenza manufacturers who can move from seed lots and feasibility data to full‑scale pandemic production.
Ensuring regulatory and manufacturing readiness in “quiet” years, with data and CMC packages ready to go when a novel strain emerges.
Creating room for platform upgrades (adjuvants, improved antigens, future mRNA influenza vaccines) without sacrificing the ability to respond quickly to specific high‑risk strains.
For manufacturers already in the influenza game, this is a strategic chance to cement their place in NPIVS and BARDA’s pandemic vaccine ecosystem for up to a decade. For adjacent players, it’s a strong signal of where BARDA is steering its influenza strategy: toward scalable platforms, antigen‑sparing adjuvanted products, and stockpile‑ready manufacturing footprints.
EverGlade is a national advisory firm helping innovators navigate the federal funding ecosystem. We support companies across the funding lifecycle, from early-stage strategy through proposal development, negotiations, and post-award execution, ensuring you win the award and deliver the program.
For additional information on where your capabilities could plug into this emerging program, schedule a conversation with our team.
