An Upcoming Funding Opportunity: PROMPT

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2026 -- The Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) announced a pre-announcement for an upcoming Request for Project Proposals (RPP) in support of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) focused on the “PRimer and prObe Manufacturing PlaTform (PROMPT).” The effort seeks development of a fully automated, man-portable, and ruggedized prototype platform for on-demand, expeditionary manufacturing of clinical-quality nucleic acid primers and probes.

The system is intended for operation in far forward or austere environments by non-specialist personnel and is designed to address critical capability gaps in expeditionary medical diagnostics. Current diagnostic capabilities are hindered by reliance on centralized manufacturing for nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) reagents, including primers and probes, limiting responsiveness to novel biothreats in agile field environments.

The technical objective of the upcoming RPP is the development, integration, and demonstration of a fully automated, ruggedized prototype capable of producing sequence-verified, high-purity oligonucleotides from a digital sequence file within hours. The system must replace hazardous synthesis chemistry with field-stable alternatives and integrate on-board purification and quality control validation capabilities.

According to the pre-announcement, the U.S. Government is seeking solutions that integrate nucleic acid synthesis of PCR primers and probes, purification, and first-line quality control into compact, ruggedized instruments optimized for reduced size, weight, and power. Systems must be operable by minimally trained personnel, meet MIL-STD-810 environmental standards, and minimize reliance on cold chain logistics.

Additional requirements include support for 20–40 nucleotide PCR primers and fluorescent probes using phosphoramidite and/or enzymatic chemistries suitable for low-resource environments. Reagents must remain stable at room temperature (20–25°C) for at least 12 months and operate across –20°C to 55°C without cold-chain dependence. The effort also emphasizes reduced hazardous materials, improved yield and production time, and cartridge-based or microfluidic purification and verification methods comparable to HPLC and LCMS standards.

The Government anticipates making one or more awards with a period of performance not to exceed 24 months. The upcoming RPP will use a two-stage acquisition approach consisting of a solution brief submission followed by a pitch event for selected Offerors. Prototypes selected for evaluation will be tested by government-identified laboratories for performance comparison against Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) equivalents.

The RPP is expected to be posted on the MTEC website (mtec-sc.org) and summarized on SAM.gov. A proposal preparation period of approximately 30 days is anticipated following release. MTEC membership is required for proposal submission, and additional information on joining is available at https://mtec-sc.org/how-to-join/.

MTEC’s mission is to assist the Department of Defense U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), the Defense Health Agency (DHA), and other government agencies in advancing medical technologies that protect and optimize Warfighter health and performance across military operations. MTEC operates under a 10-year renewable Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), Agreement No. W81XWH-15-9-0001, with the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity (DHACA).

More information is available at https://mtec-sc.org/solicitations/prompt

More information about MTEC programs and opportunities is available at https://mtec-sc.org/.

SOURCE Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC)