Solicitation
High-throughput Unmasking of Biological Interactomes with Binding Landscape Emulators (HUBBLE)
Dept of Defense · Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) · Sol. DARPA-PA-27-01
Due in 26 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.
DARPA's Biological Technologies Office wants research teams to build computer (in-silico) models that map protein-protein interactions across the human proteome, using traumatic brain injury (TBI) as the test case. This announcement covers only the 12-month Phase 1 of a planned 30-month program, with multiple Other Transaction (OT) for Research awards expected. It is a two-stage process: a short abstract first, then an invited oral presentation.
Watch out for
- Very short deadline for the first step. The abstract is due November 5, 2026, less than a month after posting, and this is a highly technical computational biology effort.
Abstract Due Date and Time: November 5th, 2026, 3:00 PM ET
- Deep technical and compute requirements. The program expects modeling of the whole human proteome with large compute and experimental validation, and rules out approaches that rely mostly on lab experiments (more than 60% of budget).
Approaches that rely exclusively on experimental characterization of protein interactions
- Data rights language is inconsistent. The announcement says the Government expects at least Government Purpose Rights in data, but the Model OT gives the Government Unlimited Rights, which matters for a company with proprietary models.
the Government shall receive Unlimited Rights, as defined in Article I, Paragraph B.
- Fixed-milestone payments and possible cost share. You are paid only when each milestone is accepted, and the Model OT mentions performer cost share, which hurts cash flow for a small company.
Research agreement with fixed payable milestones.
- Award not guaranteed and bid costs not paid. Phase 1 awards depend on available funds, Phase 2 is open only to Phase 1 performers, and DARPA pays nothing for abstract or oral proposal preparation.
The Government will not pay proposers responding to this PA for the
- Terms must be negotiated. DARPA can drop a proposer if the OT terms are not agreed in a timely way.
DARPA explicitly reserves the right to terminate awards if
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. 3 not read in full.
- DARPA-PA-27-01.pdf
- Attachment_A_Abstract_Template_and_Instructions__Phase_1_.docx
- Attachment_B_DARPA-PA-26-10__Model_OT_for_Research_HUBBLE_20261008.docx
- Attachment_E_Task_Description_Document_HUBBLE.docx
- Attachment_F_Risk_Matrix_HUBBLE.pptx: .pptx files aren't read yet
- Attachment_C_Cost_Proposal_Spreadsheet_HUBBLE.xlsx: spreadsheet: not read yet
- Attachment_D_Schedule_Milestone_and_Payments.xlsx: spreadsheet: not read yet
Full brief
What they want
- Computational approach that reduces the dimensionality of protein-protein interaction (PPI) energy landscapes
- Scalable modeling of PPIs across the entire human proteome, including dimers, large complexes, multivalent condensates, and both soluble and transmembrane proteins
- Predictions that go beyond yes/no binding: binding energy, residence time, contact residues, 3D structure confidence, and number of contexts modeled
- A strategy for modeling how perturbations (PTMs, cell types, small molecules, environment) change interactions
- An internal benchmarking plan, plus an initial TBI-related interactome of roughly 100,000 PPIs over more than 10 conditions, to be validated by government partners
- A Phase 2 strategy (summarized in the abstract) for scaling to a 10 million interaction catalog
- Contract type
- Other Transaction (OT) for Research under 10 U.S.C. 4021 with fixed payable milestones; not subject to FAR/DFARS
- Period of performance
- Phase 1 is 12 months; the full program is 30 months (12-month Phase 1 plus 18-month Phase 2, with Phase 2 not awarded under this announcement)
- Place of performance
- Not stated; performer sites, with a kickoff and PI meetings in Arlington, VA and oral presentations in the Washington, DC area in December
- Estimated value
- Phase 1 total cost must not exceed $2.0M of Government funding for 12 months per abstract
- How they'll choose
- Two stages: abstracts are scored against criteria and judged 'selectable' or not (not compared to each other); selectable proposers are invited to oral presentations and an Oral Proposal Package, which is evaluated on its own merit
- Offers due
- Abstract due November 5th, 2026, 3:00 PM ET; questions due November 3rd, 2026; Oral Proposal Package (invited proposers only) due December 11th, 2026, 3:00 PM ET
- How to submit
- Abstracts through DARPA's Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT), not Grants.gov; questions to Hubble@darpa.mil
- Page limits
- Abstract maximum 6 pages excluding title page and references: up to 5 pages for Phase 1 and 1 page for Phase 2; 12-point font, 1-inch margins; the cost estimate (half page) is outside the 5-page limit
What they'll judge offers on
- Abstract stage: 1. Technical Comprehension
- Abstract stage: 2. Technical Ability
- Abstract stage: 3. Cost Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM)
- Oral stage: 1. Technical Approach
- Oral stage: 2. Relevant Qualifications
- Oral stage: 3. Proposed Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission
- Oral stage: 4. Budget and Price
What to include when you submit
- Use the mandatory Attachment A abstract template (PDF or Word), UNCLASSIFIED, with proprietary pages marked
- Include the cover sheet, estimated Phase 1 cost, whether you plan to use Government-furnished supercomputer GPUs, and an affirmation of no SETA/A&AS work for DARPA
- Complete the biosketch and current/pending support forms in BAAT for key personnel
- If invited: complete the Model OT (tracked changes with rationale allowed), cost spreadsheet (Attachment C), milestone and payment schedule (Attachment D), Task Description Document (Attachment E), a Technical Clarification Document of 6 pages or less with a risk matrix (Attachment F), and give a 30-minute oral presentation
- Propose only an OT with fixed payable milestones
You must have
- Open to large and small businesses, nontraditional defense contractors, universities and research institutions; non-U.S. organizations may participate subject to export control and security rules
Multiple awards are anticipated.
- Unique Entity Identifier and active SAM registration are needed to receive an award; PIEE registration is also required before award
Proposers must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number and must register in
- CMMC Level 1 (self-assessment) status posted in SPRS, with a current annual affirmation, for the prime; subcontractors handling FCI or CUI must meet the same level
The required CMMC level for this solicitation is: CMMC Level 1 (Self-Assessment).
- No organizational conflict of interest: organizations providing SETA, advisory or similar support to DARPA cannot also be performers
An organization cannot simultaneously provide SETA, A&AS, or similar support to DARPA and
- Computing and experimental resources needed to carry out the proposed approach at the required throughput
Proposers that are unable to operate at the requisite computing and experimental
- Foreign national and permanent resident participants must be reported through DARPA eForm 60; key personnel go through a DARPA risk-based security review
Not in the notice text
- Contents of the cost proposal spreadsheet (Attachment C), the milestone and payment schedule template (Attachment D) and the risk matrix template (Attachment F), which were not read
- Middle portion of the Model OT (Attachment B) was left out of the text, including some security, CMMC and cost-share terms
- Exact award size and number of awards (only the $2.0M Phase 1 cap per abstract is stated)
- The list of TBI target proteins and government validation datasets, which will be given to performers later
- Oral presentation dates and the invitation instructions, which come only if the abstract is selected
- The announcement lists an Industry Day on September 25, 2026, before the October 8 posting date; whether materials from it are available is not stated
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Key facts
- Response due
- Nov 5, 2026, 8:00 PM UTC
- Posted
- Oct 8, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Solicitation
- DARPA-PA-27-01
- Agency
- Dept of Defense · Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- Office
- Def Advanced Research Projects Agcy
- NAICS
- 541714
- Product/service code
- AC12
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research
- Contracting contact
- Dr. Abhishek Singharoy, DARPA/BTOHUBBLE@darpa.mil
What similar contracts paid
49 contracts at this agency for the same NAICS and product/service codes had activity in the last 5 years, according to USAspending.gov. Small businesses won 12% of the dollars in this market over the last 3 fiscal years.
Typical contract$3MMiddle half: $990K to $5.2M
Typical per year$986KValue divided by years of performance
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting proposals to develop an in-silico capability for mapping all protein-protein interactions. Utility of this capability will be demonstrated in identifying novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets within the interaction space underlying including traumatic brain injury.
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