Solicitation
Fast Assessment of Solutions, Therapeutics, Pharmaceuticals, and SupplieS (FASTPASS) Innovative Solutions Opening
Department of Health and Human Services · National Institutes of Health · Sol. ARPA-H-SOL-26-160
Due in 31 days
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AI summary Beta
Some details weren't available to this summary, so it may miss requirements. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
ARPA-H, the federal health research agency, wants teams to build a fast, non-destructive scanner that can screen imported medicines through their packaging at ports and warehouses. It plans multiple Other Transaction (OT) research agreements, not a standard contract, covering a 54-month program run in three 18-month phases. Proposals go through a required pre-step (a short presentation) before the full proposal is due on 11/10/2026.
Watch out for
- Mandatory pre-step with an earlier deadline. You must present a Solution Summary before you can submit a proposal, and its 9/21/2026 deadline comes before the 11/10/2026 proposal date, so it may already have passed; confirm with ARPA-H first.
Solution Summary Presentations are required in order to submit a full proposal.
- Advanced research, not a routine buy. This is deep R&D (through-package sensing and AI models) with very tough targets, and it is aimed at labs, universities and technology developers rather than typical service small businesses.
escalating performance expectations. FASTPASS goals are aggressive and only the best
- Heavy proposal paperwork. A full package needs a 30 to 40 page technical volume plus task, cost, milestone, research security, IP, and OT agreement redline documents, which is a big lift for a small team.
Thirty (30) pages for offerors proposing to a single TA and forty (40) pages for offerors proposing to both TAs.
- Teams are cut down along the way. Performers can be dropped at any point, including after midphase demonstrations, so funding beyond the first 18 months is not assured.
down-selection may also occur at any
- Strict research security review. Selected teams get a Research Security Review of key people and partners, and missing or unmitigated disclosures can remove a proposal from consideration.
- Narrow out-of-scope list. Methods that destroy the sample or open the package (such as mass spectrometry) are out of scope, as are approaches that just apply existing AI or large language models.
Technologies that require destructive preparations (e.g. mass spectrometry, liquid
Read from the notice and 8 attachments. 3 not read in full.
- ARPA-H-SOL-26-160 FASTPASS ISO.pdf
- APPENDIX-C.0-Proposal Format and Instructions.docx
- Appendix A_Program and Technical Description.pdf
- APPENDIX-C.1-Technical and Management Proposal Model.docx
- APPENDIX-C.2-Task Description Document Model.docx
- APPENDIX-C.3-Cost-Proposal-Model.docx
- APPENDIX E-Draft OT Agreement.docx
- APPENDIX F_Administrative National Policy Document.docx
- Appendix B_FASTPASS_Pre-Proposal Discussion Template and Instructions.pptx: .pptx files aren't read yet
- ATTACHMENT D_Cost Proposal Workbook.xlsx: spreadsheet: not read yet
- APPENDIX C.4_Milestone Payment Schedule Model.xlsx: spreadsheet: not read yet
Full brief
What they want
- Technical Area 1 (TA1): next-generation sensors that read the contents of pharmaceutical packages without opening them (for example Raman, terahertz, X-ray or NMR-type methods)
- Technical Area 2 (TA2): AI/machine-learning models and system software that combine data from at least three sensor types and cut through noisy field signals
- A rugged, transportable, battery-capable prototype that works at ports and warehouses and self-calibrates
- Scan times that drop to roughly 13 seconds per sample by the final phase, with very low false-alarm rates
- Screening of six package types: liquid vial or syringe boxes, solid-dose bottles, lyophilized vial boxes, blister packs, liquid bag boxes, and bulk powder barrels
- Demonstrations in each phase, supported by government test partners, plus a commercialization plan and a software plan that follows health IT standards
- Contract type
- Other Transaction (OT) agreement; multiple awards anticipated. The sample agreement is fixed-price, paid per milestone
- Period of performance
- 54 months total: three 18-month phases, with teams cut down at the end of each phase or earlier
- Place of performance
- DC, USA per the notice; demonstrations may be at government partner sites such as FDA facilities
- How they'll choose
- Scientific and technical review of each proposal on its own merits against four criteria; proposals are not ranked against each other
- Offers due
- Full proposals: 11/10/2026, 4:00 PM ET. Required Solution Summary presentation slides: 09/21/2026, 4:00 PM ET. Questions: 11/03/2026, 4:00 PM ET
- How to submit
- ARPA-H Solutions portal (solutions.arpa-h.gov); registration on the portal is required
- Page limits
- Technical & Management Proposal: 30 pages for one Technical Area, 40 pages for both. Task Description, cost documents and appendices do not count against the limit
What they'll judge offers on
- Overall Scientific and Technical Merit
- Proposer's Capabilities and/or Related Experience
- Potential Contribution to Relevance to the ARPA-H Mission and User Experience
- Assessment of Proposed Cost/Price
What to include when you submit
- Give a Solution Summary Presentation first (slides plus a virtual discussion); at least one person from each team organization must take part
- Submit one proposal per team, using the ARPA-H models: Technical & Management Proposal, Task Description Document, Cost Proposal narrative, Milestone and Payment Schedule, and Cost Workbook
- Include the Administrative & National Policy Requirements Document (OCI, research security, IP, cybersecurity and biosecurity disclosures)
- Include the draft OT agreement with your redlines, or a written statement that you propose no changes
- Proposal must stay valid for at least 120 days
- Biographical sketches, current and pending support, and collaborator forms for all senior and key personnel
- Letters of support, a software component plan, and a commercialization strategy narrative
- Mark proprietary pages 'Proprietary' (not 'Confidential')
- Format: English, 8.5 x 11 inch pages, 1-inch margins, sans serif font 11 point or larger
You must have
- Must be registered in SAM.gov with a UEI when you submit, and stay actively registered through award and performance
At the time of proposal submission, the proposer must be registered in the
- A Solution Summary Presentation is mandatory before a full proposal can be submitted
Solution Summary Presentations are required in order to submit a full proposal.
- Federal research centers (FFRDCs) and government entities, including government employees, cannot be a prime or sub-performer unless ARPA-H finds a unique capability is needed
Development Centers (FFRDCs) and government
- Anyone currently providing support services to ARPA-H is ineligible; past support within one year must be disclosed
ineligible for an award stemming from this ISO.
- Foreign entities may take part only if they follow security and export rules; entities of concern, certain covered foreign countries, and debarred or suspended entities cannot receive awards
- Multi-party teams need a fully signed teaming agreement before award, and all members must sign the OT agreement
3. A fully executed teaming agreement outlining roles and responsibilities must be in place
- Research security: disclosures and certifications from all senior and key personnel that they are not in a malign foreign talent recruitment program
- Proposed work cannot already be funded or selected for negotiation under another funding opportunity
The proposer’s concept has not received funding or been selected for award negotiations for another funding opportunity
Not in the notice text
- Total funding or award sizes are not stated in the documents that were read
- The Solution Summary slide template (Appendix B), the Cost Proposal Workbook (Appendix D), and the Milestone and Payment Schedule (Appendix C.4) were not readable
- Part of the middle of the draft OT agreement (about half of its text) was left out, so some terms such as dispute, IP and property articles were not reviewed
- Whether late Solution Summary presentations are still being accepted
- Proposers' Day was on 09/10/2026; materials from it are said to be posted on the FASTPASS program website
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Key facts
- Response due
- Nov 10, 2026, 9:00 PM UTC
- Posted
- Aug 20, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Solicitation
- ARPA-H-SOL-26-160
- Agency
- Department of Health and Human Services · National Institutes of Health
- Office
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (Arpa-H)
- NAICS
- 541715
- Product/service code
- AN13
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research
- Place of performance
- DC, 20005
- Contracting contact
- The FASTPASS TeamFASTPASS@ARPA-H.GOV
What similar contracts paid
3 contracts at this agency under the same NAICS code, in the same state, had activity in the last 5 years, according to USAspending.gov. Small businesses won 11% of the dollars in this market over the last 3 fiscal years.
Typical contract$2MMiddle half: $1.2M to $13.1M
Typical per year$1MValue divided by years of performance
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Fast Assessment of Solutions, Therapeutics, Pharmaceuticals, and SupplieS (FASTPASS) program aims to develop a near real-time, non-destructive, AI-enabled system for screening pharmaceutical products and inputs through their packaging at ports of entry and other supply-chain nodes. Interested parties are invited to review the attached FASTPASS Innovative Solutions Opening, ARPA-H-SOL-26-160.
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