BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) Sequencing Core

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (a component of the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health) established this Master IDIQ on January 31, 2023, to procure high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing services supporting the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN), a research program generating genomic and transcriptomic reference maps of mammalian brain cells and tissues. Ordering authority extends through January 30, 2030, providing roughly 3.5 years of remaining ordering window. The vehicle carries a shared ceiling of $149 million and is unrestricted (no set-aside).

Five task orders have been awarded since March 2023, all to unrestricted competitive awardees. Two primes dominate the vehicle: New York Genome Center, Inc. holds 2 orders with $69.9 million combined potential value, and The Broad Institute, Inc. holds 2 orders with $61.5 million combined potential value. University of Washington received one order valued at $10 thousand. Combined task-order potential value stands at $131.4 million, with $52.3 million obligated (40% of potential value). Ordering activity concentrated in the first two months of the vehicle's life (all five orders awarded by May 29, 2023); no new orders have been placed in the 3+ years since.

Task-order scope divides into sequencing operations (Task Areas 2 through 6) priced as cost-no-fee arrangements, and program coordination work (Task Area 1: Manual of Operations) priced as firm-fixed-price. The two largest orders to New York Genome Center and The Broad Institute contain ceiling values of $69.9 million and $61.5 million respectively and run through May 28, 2028. Three smaller Task Area 1 orders (manual-of-operations support) were issued at $5,000 to $38,000 ceilings; two of these received March 19, 2025 notices of termination for convenience under a Department of Government Efficiency cost-efficiency initiative.

Customer concentration tilts heavily toward the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which placed 2 orders representing $131.3 million of combined potential value. The National Institute of Mental Health placed 3 orders valued at $53 thousand combined.

Create the BICAN Sequencing Core, an integrated network of DNA and RNA sequencing service providers to support the high-throughput genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic sequencing needs of several research laboratories participating in the BICAN program. Awardees will function within an integrated network with BICAN research laboratories to perform DNA and RNA sequencing of libraries derived from isolated cells, nuclei and bulk tissue from the different brain regions of multiple mammalian species, with an emphasis on the human brain.