Amendment 1_ Response to Offeror's Questions.pdf

OMS Approval 2700·0042

/1. CONTRACT 10 CODE OF PAGES/PAG~

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT N/A I 5

2. AMENDMENTIMODIFICATION NO. 4. REQUISITIONIPURCHASE REQ. NO. 5 PROJECT NO. (If applicable)13. EFFECTIVE DATE

04123/2012 N/A N/A

6. ISSUED BY CODE I 7. ADMINISTERED BY (/fother Ihan Item 6) CODEI N/A

National Institutes of Health

Office of Acquisitions - NIDA Neuroscience COAC

NIMH R&D Contract Ma(lagement Section

6001 Executive Boulevard, room 8154, MSC 9661

Bethesda, MD 20892-9661

(II)8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No. Street, County, State and ZIP: Code) 9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

I-

HHS-NIH-NIDA (MH)-12-029X

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

TO ALL OFFERORS 03/26/2012

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

RFP TITLE: "NIH Small Molecule Repository"

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13) I

I CODE IFACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONL Y APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

I8J The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers o is extended, I8J is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the soliCitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning one (1) copy of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the SOlicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE

T T T.RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DA A SPECIFIED MAY RESUL IN REJEC ION OF

:YOUR OFFER.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

(01) A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation dale, elc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43. 103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modifiealion and authority)

Eo IMPORTANT: Contractor I8J is not, 0 is required to sign this document and return ___ copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATtON (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicltationlcontract subject matter where teasible.)

iTHE PURPOSE OF THIS AMENDMENT IS:

1, To respond to Offeror'S questions (see pages 2 - 5)

NOTE: OFFERORS SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF ALL AMENDMENTS WITH THEIR PROPOSAL.

Continued on p. 2

: Except as provided herein, all tenns and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type orprlnt) l6A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

Craig D. Sager, Contracting Officer (Type or print) i

158. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature ofperson authorized 10 sign)

15C. DATE SIGNED lSB. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BY

(Signature of Contracting Officer) lSC. DATE SIGNED i

I

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

RFP No.: HHS-NIDA (MH)-12-029 Amendment No.: 01 SPECIAL PROVISIONS I Page 2015 04/23/12

1. To respond to Offeror's questions (see below)

NIH RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS

NIH Small Molecule Repository

1) Question: Are completed "Informational Attachments" (Part III, Section J, p.43) required to be included in the response submission?

Answer: The Attachments are for informational purposes, and should be reviewed but not returned.

If so, are the completed documents to be included in the Technical Proposal, Business Proposal or both? N/A

2) Question: What does the offeror need demonstrate regarding property lease?

Answer: Due to the essential need for continued availability of facilities and equipment necessary to successfully operate and maintain the NIH Small Molecule Repository, the Government must have reasonable assurances that the NIH Small Molecule Repository contract will be able to continue operations into the foreseeable future. It is understood that it may not be possible to have a firm commitment from your landlord for the next ten (10) years. In that case, document the term of the current lease, and if possible provide some written assurance from the landlord regarding a commitment period. Discuss the risks to the contract if the lease ends before the ten

(10) year period. Please also assess the likelihood of losing your lease in the future.

3) Question: Please clarify what is meant by Performance history and cost schedules (p.80).

Answer: The offeror is being asked to provide a history of performance on similar types of projects/contracts in comparison to the effort required in this RFP. Performance history should include both successful projects and those with technical and cost issues, including a description of cost overruns, technical difficulties/issues, etc.

4) Question: Is the requested Annual Report that of our entire company or only the subsidiary responding?

Answer: In the case of a Parent company and a Subsidiary where the Subsidiary is the "Offeror," a copy of the Subsidiary's annual report would suffice unless the Parent company would support the Subsidiary if any financial difficulties arise; if that is the case, provide both the Subsidiary's and the Parent's annual reports, with a signed document in the proposal from the Parent providing for their financial support.

5) Question: Does the list of pertinent grants and contracts apply to the subsidiary submitting the response to the RFP or does it also include our parent company (p. 80)?

Answer: The list of pertinent grants and contracts would apply only to the subsidiary submitting

Amendment No.: 01 SPECIAL PROVISIONS Page 3 of5 04/23/12 the response to the RFP, unless the parent company is signing the contract as the legal "offeror" or the parent company will be actively involved in the performance of this contract (e.g., billing effort to the contract)

6) Question: We understand that the NIH Small Molecule Repository may also handle proprietary compounds and data. How are we to deal with the data and compound flow? Are their particular rules regarding access to structure and data that we will need to take into consideration?

Answer: In the case of proprietary materials, the NIH Small Molecule Repository contractor may be required to sign Confidentiality or Material Transfer Agreements. In addition, contractor information systems will need to be able to identify and potentially segregate proprietary compounds and the related data. Anonymized sample data may need to be provided to recipients of the compound. In some cases, the contractor will handle compounds without access to the compound structure.

(7) Question: (Reference RFP Attachment 2): With regard to "collaborating Institutions" and Investigators, if both a Parent company and a Subsidiary might participate in contract performance, with the Subsidiary as the Offeror, would the Parent company be listed as a collaborator?

Answer: Yes, please list the "parent company" as a collaborator for work proposed to be performed outside of the subsidiary. Also, if a Parent company will provide "indirect" benefit to performance (e.g., management expertise, expert consultation, etc.) this should be detailed in your proposal. The Technical and Business proposals should detail all costs and technical details associated with work done by "collaborators".

(8) Question: Is the project Director on attachment 2 equivalent to the Principal Investigator?

Answer: Yes

(9) Question: Is the Business Representative the person who which will have responsibilities for daily operations and interface with the Client or is this the person who will be responsible for contract negotiations?

Answer: For purposes of this Solicitation, The Business Representative is the person who will be responsible for contract negotiations.

(10) Question: Can you project an estimated spend for 2012 for this project? The previous year's numbers are publicly accessible and this information would be available to the current service provider, so we would appreciate it as well.

Answer: In order to provide for maximum price competition, which is a factor in a best value source selection (see Section M) we do not provide this type of data. The cost proposal instructions in the RFP should provide sufficient details to allow preparation of the cost proposal.

(11) Question: We would anticipate that the number of services and distributions requested could vary from year to year. Is there a minimum annual spend stipulated so that we could amortize any of our costs with confidence?

Answer: Please see Budget Assumptions in Attachment 4, Actual/Sample Tasks.

Amendment No.: 01 SPECIAL PROVISIONS Page 4 of 5 04/23/12

(12) Question: (Reference RFP, Attachment 3, Pages 5-7, Compound Plating and Distribution)

What is the number of compounds in the seven subsets?

Answer: The subsets have not yet been developed. The content and size of the subsets will be determined by the NIH, working with the SMR contractor and outside conSUltants. For proposal development purposes, offerors may assume the subset sizes listed below, however the actual size of the sets may vary.

Subset 1 -100,000

Subset 2 - 50,000

Subset 3 - 3500

Subset 4 -15,000

Subset 5 - 15,000

Subset 6 -15,000

Subset 7 - 15,000

(13.) Question: (Reference RFP, Attachment 3, Pages 5-7, Compound Plating and Distribution) Can you confirm that 320 compounds are plated in 386 well plates and that 1280 compounds are plated per 1536 well plate?

Answer: The current MLSMR contract uses both 80 well and 88 well formats, depending on center preferences. Offerors should discuss their capabilities for offering multiple plating options (well arrangements, plate types, formats, volumes, concentrations) to meet variable needs of SMR customers.

(14) Question: (Reference RFP, Attachment 3, Pages 5-7, Compound Plating and Distribution) What is the approximate number (or proportion) of 384 versus 1536 plates preferences? For example, four sets of the 380,000 (using above assumption) produces 1188 plate of 386 well and 297 plates of 1536 well plates.

Answer: Preferences vary between centers and across orders for an individual center. For proposal development purposes, offerors may assume that half of the orders will be in 384 well plates and half in 1536 well plates for NIH plating. Offerors may assume that fee-for-service plating will be split evenly between 384 and 1536 well plates for full set plating, and between 96, 384, and 1536 plates for subset and cherry pick orders. The actual mix of plate types may vary, . however.

(15) Question: (Reference RFP, Attachment 3, Pages 5-7, Compound Plating and Distribution)

What type of seal is used on the plates, adhesive, heat seals, or capmat?

Answer: Currently, the MLSMR offers the option of adhesive or heat seals, depending on center preferences. Offerors should discuss what options are available for plate sealing, and discuss any preferences or recommendations.

Amendment No.: 01 SPECIAL PROVISIONS Page 5 of 5 04/23/12

(16).Question: (Reference RFP, Attachment 3, Pages 5-7, Compound Plating and Distribution) Can you confirm that the 0.75ml tubes have septum caps?

Answer: The .75ml tubes have split septum caps.

(17). Question: (Reference RFP, Attachment 3, Pages 5-7, Compound Plating and Distribution) Are compound solutions in mg/ml or millimolar concentrations?

Answer: Compounds are in solution in millimolar concentrations.

(18). Please note that a typographical error in Attachment 7, Government Furnished Property, Schedule II-A is corrected below. The correction changes the number of V-Prep Liquid Handlers supplied as GFP from 2 to 1: This equipment was acquired in approximately April of 2008.

Description:

[Name, Part Number and Description, manufacturer, and National Stock Number (if needed for additional identification i tracking and/or disposition).]

Quantityl Unit of Measure

Unit Acquisition

Cost

Furnished "As-Is"

* YES NO

1 $45,000 X , Liquid Handler, (Vendor - Zissner Lissy)

1 $286,965 X V-Prep Liquid Handler (Vendor - Velocity 11 -Agilent)

1 $5,244 X Dell Computer, Server: PE R510 with up to

• 12 Hot Swap, HODS, LED

(19). Also please note that a typographical error in the initial synopsis is hereby corrected to clarify the Response Date of May 11, 2012; 4:30pm Eastern time. The due date of May 01,2012 4:30pm Eastern is incorrect.