Sources Sought Notice - 75N95023R00055.pdf

Sources Sought Notice Number: 75N95023R00055

Title: Non-GMP Synthesis of Compounds (Sequencing Services)

NAICS Code: 541380 - Testing Laboratories

Response Due Date: June 07, 2023 at 3:00 pm

Introduction:

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Background:

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) seeks to identify molecules that bind KIAA0203 protein. The Government has kinetic validated structures that bind KIAA0203 to identify protein ligands. The Government now seeks to identify a service for synthesizing ligands that bind KIAA0203.

Purpose and Objectives:

The purpose of this contract is to procure a full-service facility and staff to support a medicinal chemistry discovery program in developing a novel therapeutic effective in treatment dementias.

The drug discovery approach will be to synthesize novel ligands based on the high-throughput screen hits that bind our protein of interest, KIAA0203. The results of the efforts of this work will be the basis to advance preclinical candidate compounds for further development.

Project Requirements:

The Contractor shall provide the Government with the following:

The Contractor will perform experiments to synthesize up to 100 compounds in 2-10 milligram quantities under non-GMP conditions. To this end, the Contractor will provide two (2) full-time equivalent (FTE) scientists and one (1) FTE at 25% effort dedicated to the project that can provide updates on its progress over the course of 12 months. Compounds will not be highly potent or controlled substances and have a purity of >95%.

The scope of this project shall be discovery chemistry, computational chemistry/Computer Aided Drug Discovery (CADD) and biology in support of preclinical drug discovery efforts including project planning; project management; design, procurement, and milligram-scale synthesis of chemical analogs, using CADD where appropriate; multi-gram and scale-up synthesis for testing in animal models; in vitro ADME and toxicology testing for lead optimization; and communication.

Purity of compounds shall be >95%

Standard Certificate of Analysis shall be provided for each compound and include: 1H NMR, MS, and LC trace.

Period of Performance: 12 months

Place of Performance: The principal place of performance is the vendor’s work site. Travel for contractor employees will not be necessary.

Capability Statement:

Contractors that believe they possess the ability to provide the required services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contract Specialist.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: This notice is for information and planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to any contractual agreement. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on responses under this announcement nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information sent for the Government's use. Any proprietary information should be so marked. All capability statements should provide the following: 1) company name and address; 2) point of contract, 3) phone/fax/email; 4) NAICS Code(s), 5) business size and status; 6) capability information in response to the requirement and qualifications identified in this notice; and 7) types(s) of business, if any (e.g.,: small, Veteran-owned, service-disabled Veteran-owned, women-owned, 8(a), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone).

Interested organizations are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number.

All capability statements sent in response to this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Alexander Beraud, Contract Specialist, at Alexander.Beraud@nih.gov before the closing date and time of this announcement. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered.

Note:

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After review of the responses received, pre-solicitation and solicitation notices may be published on https://beta.sam.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. The solicitation release date is pending. The Government anticipates negotiation of a firm fixed price contract.

Primary Point of Contact:

Alexander Beraud, Contract Specialist Alexander.Beraud@nih.gov Phone: 301.827.6857

Secondary Point of Contact:

Josh Lazarus, Contracting Officer Josh.Lazarus@nih.gov Phone: 301.443.6677