The Food and Drug Administration awarded a $73,529 firm fixed-price purchase order to American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) on August 16, 2024, for the cryopreservation of two cell lines and associated storage services. Under this contract, ATCC will expand and prepare two adherent cell lines infected with a retrovirus, delivering 250 vials per cell line with 4 million viable cells per vial. The contractor will perform quality control testing, provide comprehensive documentation, and maintain storage of the materials for one year before transferring them to an FDA repository. The solicitation was issued as full and open competition with evaluation criteria prioritizing technical capability and past performance over price, with the place of performance in Manassas, Virginia.
ATCC, a nonprofit biological resource center and critical provider of biological materials and services to federal agencies, was selected through competitive award without any set-aside designation. This contract aligns with ATCC's extensive experience serving the FDA and other federal agencies in providing specialized biological services, including pathogen storage, biospecimen processing, and cryopreservation of cell lines. The work supports the FDA's research and regulatory functions, which often require well-characterized, authenticated biological reference materials for product development and quality assurance initiatives.