ABOUT GARDP FOUNDATION

The Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP Foundation) is a not-for-profit global health organization registered in Geneva, Switzerland. GARDP’s mission is to accelerate the development and access of treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections. It does so by forging public-private partnerships all over the world to develop and expand access to treatments for serious bacterial infections and sepsis in adults, children and newborns, as well as sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
GARDP Foundation responds to the crisis in antimicrobial resistance. In 2015, the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), adopted the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. The following year, to deliver on this plan, WHO and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative created GARDP. In 2018, the GARDP Foundation was legally established as an independent entity.
Since then, GARDP Foundation has developed a portfolio of antibiotic treatments that targets WHO priority pathogens, priority diseases and key populations/regions that are especially affected by drug resistance. It is also pioneering new access initiatives with innovator, manufacturing and distribution partners.
As of 2024, the GARDP team consists of about 100 people who collectively share extensive cross-sector R&D and access experience. They work with the key public and private sector stakeholders and partners, such as the research and development community, donors, industry and implementing countries.

PROJECT BACKGROUND & PURPOSE OF THE RFP

Background to project

There is a high burden of disease of neonatal sepsis globally but especially in LMICs. In 2018, WHO estimated 2.5 million deaths occurred in the neonatal period (0-1 month), mostly in LMICs. 15% of neonatal deaths were attributed to sepsis, infections being the third most common cause of neonatal deaths (2018: 400,000 neonatal deaths due to infection). The current WHO guideline recommendations for first line treatment of neonatal sepsis is intravenous ampicillin (or benzyl penicillin) and gentamicin.
GARDP has identified new treatment regimens for newborns with life-threatening sepsis. Based on the NeoObs study and parallel scientific and clinical studies on three medicines – fosfomycin, amikacin and flomoxef – three existing antibiotics with a licensed dose to treat neonates.
GARDP will launch an international clinical health trial, NeoSep1, to rank the safety and efficacy of three new combinations of older antibiotics (fosfomycin-amikacin, flomoxef-amikacin, and flomoxef-fosfomycin) against the current WHO-recommended standard of care.

Purpose of RFP

One of GARDP’s objectives is 1) to ensure that the production of these products remains sustainable; 2) that the products are of assured quality and 3) that the products are affordable. Nevertheless, as it can be complex for suppliers to ensure long-term availability, widen access to generic products and meet expectations of quality and affordability, GARDP seeks to define the activities that should be implemented to support these suppliers. With this in mind, GARDP would like to set up a supplier engagement working group to facilitate discussion on the relevant activities to be implemented to ensure the long-term commitment of these suppliers.
GARDP will start this exercise on one product : IV Fosfomycin.

SCOPE OF WORK

Preparation of the Working Group:
The Service Provider will work closely with GARDP in this exercise. GARDP will share all internal data on the IV Fosfomycin market and its knowledge on the supply chain. During the Kick-Off meeting organized between the Service Provider and GARDP, the following topics will be discussed:

• Define the suppliers to include in the working group and the rational of this selection;
• Finetune the list of activities that GARDP may propose to manufacturers to improve the enabling environment & market conditions for antibiotics.

Creation of the Working Group
The Service Provider will have to interact directly with the suppliers and clarify the modus operandi of this working group to ensure a fruitful discussion with clear next steps.
Number of members in this WG: around 5 suppliers (with a focus on companies already having manufacturing & supply feasibility for Fosfomycinn IV). Nevertheless, GARDP is also open to include companies with developmental & future supply capabilities.

Management of the Working Group
The Service Provider will have to manage the Working Group, organize 3 meetings in 2025 and moderate the discussion between GARDP and suppliers. The Service Provider will have to prepare all the materials for these meetings.
At the end of year, the Service Provider should provide to GARDP:

• the list of activities to create/implement/manage to ensure strong engagement of suppliers,
• ideas on how to indirectly impact/maintain a balance between product quality & affordable pricing,
• concrete proposals to keep the Working Group active.

Management of individual engagement with key suppliers
Knowing that suppliers are unlikely to really share what they want/need in a Working Group with other suppliers, GARDP recommends that the Service Provider organize one-to-one meetings with suppliers in order to:

1. better understand supplier(s) needs and constraints,
2. draw up an individual commitment plan for the most interested supplier (this plan will act as a roadmap between GARDP and the supplier).

DELIVERABLES

The expected deliverables are as follows:

• A two-page document explaining the role and objectives of the “Supplier Engagement Working Group”, to be sent to suppliers;
• Precise minutes of all internal and external meetings (Word document);
• Presentation to moderate the different Working Groups (PowerPoint document);
• A PowerPoint document (which will be updated throughout the project and available on SharePoint) capturing the situation with the different suppliers and presenting the list of activities that GARDP should propose to manufacturers to improve the enabling environment and market conditions for antibiotics (with pros/cons for each activity).
• An individual commitment plan for the most interested supplier (PowerPoint document)

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING SUPPLIERS

The decision to award any contract as a result of this RFP process will be based on Suppliers’ responses and any subsequent negotiations or discussions. The decision-making process will consider the ability of each supplier to fulfil GARDP Foundation’s requirements as outlined within this RFP and the total cost of the offer.
Proposals will be assessed against, but not limited to, the following criteria:
Technical criteria
Technical criteria will weigh a maximum of 70% of the award decision. They include technical expertise, project experience, team structure, project plan proposal, project management capabilities, client recommendations, values and cultural fit.

Financial criteria

Financial criteria will weigh a minimum of 30% of the award decision. They include supplier competitiveness and the completeness of the offer, payment schedule based on deliverables, and a special discount for not-for-profit organizations.

Proposals evaluation and bid defense meeting

Based on a pre-aligned selection grid, the GARDP Foundation selection committee will evaluate all written proposals to determine which suppliers shall be invited to a virtual meeting with the GARDP Foundation selection committee.
The duration of each meeting will be around 1 hour, including follow-up questions and answers. Agenda and potential questions will be shared in advance, together with the invitation to participate.

Value-add and insight

Please list/describe any additional services that you feel would benefit GARDP Foundation and their associated costs (if any).

Data privacy

GARDP Foundation is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our Privacy Notice (Annex 3) sets out the basis on which the personal data collected from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us in connection with your relationship with GARDP Foundation, as vendors, suppliers or third parties. By responding to our RFP, you confirm that you have read our Data Privacy Notice and confirm your understanding on how your personal data will be stored and processed by GARDP Foundation.

If you are interested to participate, please send a request to: RFP_Procurement@gardp.org to receive complete documentation of this RFP

Due/closing date: February 10th 2025