NARMS Cooperative Agreement Program to Strengthen Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance in Retail Food Specimens

Summary

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking cooperative agreement partners to strengthen antibiotic resistance surveillance in retail food specimens under the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) program. This federal grant opportunity aims to enhance the monitoring and tracking of antimicrobial resistance in food supply chains. The program is structured as a cooperative agreement, indicating active FDA collaboration with award recipients. The opportunity window is unusually long, running from mid-2025 through April 2027.

What they want

How they evaluate

Risks & flags

• Synopsis contains virtually no programmatic detail — scope, deliverables, budget, and eligibility requirements are entirely absent, making competitive assessment impossible from this record alone.
• Extremely long open-to-close window (July 2025 – April 2027) may indicate a rolling or multi-cycle solicitation with phased awards, which can favor incumbents or well-networked applicants.
• NARMS is a long-running FDA program with established laboratory and state-level partners — incumbent relationships may be deeply embedded.