140D0420Q0361 - LSJ_FBO_1.pdf

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

In Accordance with FAR 8.405-6

Solicitation 140D0420Q0361

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a Limited Sources Justification.

This document is a Limited Sources Justification for the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division II Branch II on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This proposed action is the award of a short-term task order to Essex Management, LLC (Essex) issued against General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule Contract No.

47QTCA20D003A. This task order will include a one-year Base Period and a potential six-month FAR 52.217-8 extension.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

The Contractor shall provide comprehensive Clinical Reporting and Research Informatics (CRRI) support that includes elements of the Cancer Moonshot and Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI). CRRI will include Precision Medicine and Coordination Center (PMACC), Correlative Study Management System (CSMS), and Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP) activities as well as ancillary support services.

The current support for these services expires . In order to avoid a break in mission-critical services, the Government is awarding a one-year task order to Essex to continue these services until a new competitive contract vehicle can be awarded. The estimated cost of these services is including a one-year Base Period and a potential six-month FAR 52.217-8 extension. The Government’s cost estimate is based on the historical level of effort from the previous support contract and current GSA Schedule contract rates.

4. The authority and supporting rational (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) – Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

Essex is uniquely qualified to provide these highly specialized biomedical information technology services given their prior successful experience performing the requirement. Failure to provide continuous support for CRRI development, modernization, and upgrade efforts would have a major negative impact on ongoing and future research and research support initiatives.

Several critical software programs with high visibility and executive interest would be impacted.

This includes efforts under the Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) and Pediatric MATCH precision medicine initiatives, which match patients/research subjects to research studies within the cancer research network. This also includes CTRP software which is used to collect, analyze, and report clinical trials progress, results, and outcomes, thereby enabling cancer centers to meet their mandated reporting requirements and allowing the NCI to focus research on the most promising efforts. Additionally, these programs support research efforts across all of the NCI, including critical ongoing research in response to COVID-19. A lack of CRRI support would impact both researchers and patients, resulting in unacceptable delays in populating research studies, inadequate data availability, analysis, and reporting, and staff and patient frustration and dissatisfaction. As NCI requires continuous support for these mission-critical tasks during this time, it is not feasible for another Contractor to provide these services at the same level of quality considering price, lead time, and administrative burden. This short-term award will provide the necessary time it will take for AQD to compete and award the new vehicle for these services.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

Essex’s GSA Schedule rates were previously determined to be fair and reasonable at the time of contract award by GSA. Even though FAR 8.404(d) indicates that the rates for services offered at hourly rates under schedule contracts are fair and reasonable, additional discounts will be requested and a fair and reasonable price determination will be made at the time of award As a result, it has been determined by the Contracting Officer that the award will represent the best value to the Government considering price, administrative costs, and the potential consequences and costs associated with a gap in services.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research indicated that Essex’s GSA Schedule Contract is current until December 22, 2024. Additional market research on other GSA Schedule vendors was not conducted as this is a short-term award for highly specialized services.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

Only support required to maintain current NCI program needs will be provided under this award.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition of supplies and services is made.

AQD is currently in the process of competing a new contract vehicle which will include these services. This task order will be utilized until the support can be transitioned to the new contract vehicle. A delay in executing this award to extend support for these services would be detrimental to the mission of NCI and would result in a gap in service.

12. Reviews and Approvals

Concur

Melissa Onyszko Date Branch Chief

Concur

Heidi Herron Date Division Chief

Concur

Mike Whalen Date Bureau Competition Advocate

Approve

Keith O’Neill Date Head of Contracting Activity