JOFOC - Oxford Nanopore IDIQ-REDACTED.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

Contracting Activity Plains Area Administrative Office, Acquisition 2150 Centre Avenue, Bldg D, Suite 300 Fort Collins, CO 80526

Nature/Description of Action The Plains Area (PA) Acquisition team has been tasked with establishing an indefinite delivery contract (IDC) with Oxford Nanopore for supplies. The PA contracting team is looking to establish a requirements contract for the purchase of indefinite quantities at non-regular ordering intervals across all ARS geographical areas.

Description of Supplies/Services MinION, GridION, PromethION, MinIT, Flongle and Voltrax devices, as well as associated flow cells and sample preparation reagents and kits, are manufactured and made available exclusively by Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd.

Throughout the USDA, it is estimated that $740,000 will be spent over five years on sequencing devices, flow cells, reagents, sample preparation kits and service contracts.

PromethION flow cells are approximately $630 each and combined throughout the USDA, approximately 1000 flow cells will be used annually. Sample preparation and reagent and kits cost $100 per sample and roughly 750-1000 samples will be prepped per year. Service contracts are $35000 annually per PromethION device.

Statutory Authority

Demonstration of Contractor’s Unique Qualifications and/or Product’s Unique Features Oxford Nanopore Technologies was founded in 2005 to develop a disruptive, electronic, single molecule sensing system based on nanopore science. Oxford Nanopore employees specialize in multiple disciplines, including nanopore science, molecular biology and applications, informatics, engineering, electronics, manufacturing and commercialization. The management team, led by CEO Dr Gordon Sanghera, has a track record of delivering disruptive technologies to the market. A series of collaborations with world-leading nanopore researchers in combination with in-house expertise and intellectual property give the company a leading position in nanopore technology.

Nanopore-based sequencing flow cells are capable of sequencing DNA and RNA samples, to complement existing optical-based sequencing capacity. The technology must have the capability to produce sequence read lengths of up to and greater than 100 kilobases, and achieve average read lengths in the 50 kilobase range with adequate quality input DNA. Must have capacity to produce total output of these long reads of >200 Gigabases per day, and capability to perform base calling during the sequencing process.

6. System for Award Management (SAM.gov) Announcement/Potential Sources A sources sought was posted to sam.gov looking to identify vendors capable of sourcing the unique requirements provided by the Oxford Nanopore line of equipment/consumables. This sources sought was posted on February 2, 2024 under 12805B24Q0105 and vendors were asked to respond by February 9, 2024. No response to the sources sought was received.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost Pricing will be able to be determined fair and reasonable by comparing our pricing schedule with the Oxford Nanopore online store- https://store.nanoporetech.com/us/.

As use of this technology is likely to expand across the commercial marketplace during the life of this contract, it is likely that pricing for these items may go down.

This has been confirmed by conversations with , the Government POC for Oxford Nanopore in sam.gov. As a result, Oxford Nanopore will be provided the opportunity to update their pricing annually on the anniversary of the contract, and the new pricing shall not exceed the posted online store pricing.

8. Market Survey

Nanopore is the world’s leading commercially available next generation sequencing company producing ultra-long DNA sequencing technology. This proprietary technology is necessary for the generation of complete animal, bacterial and viral genomes. These genomes are utilized by researchers world-wide to study animal relationships, animal health, food and meat safety. There is not a competing platform that can generate this sequencing data.

9. Additional Support

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. provides its products exclusively to registered users. These users may only obtain Oxford Nanopore Technologies devices and consumables directly from Oxford Nanopore. Oxford Nanopore is the OEM of the PromethION 24 sequencer and has not approved any third-party vendors in the USA and is thereby the only supplier of Oxford Nanopore products and services.

10. Other Interested Sources As indicated in Paragraph 6, no responses were received in response to the sources sought posted to sam.gov.

11. Actions Taken to Remove Barriers to Future Competition

MinION, GridION, PromethION, MinIT, Flongle and Voltrax devices, as well as associated flow cells and sample preparation reagents and kits, are manufactured and made available exclusively by Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies is the OEM of the PromethION 24 Sequencing Unit.

The company has indicated that it only does direct selling and does not use other distributors. Extensive market research did not identify any other vendor providing nanopore-based sequencing instruments, or any sequencing technology able to meet the requirements of maximum read length and throughput. Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd is the only vendor capable of meeting our requirement.

To the best of our knowledge, there is no other device or consumable that enables the measurement of nucleic acids based on their direct interaction with a protein-based nanopore. Furthermore, the Oxford Nanopore Technologies platforms uniquely allow for the real time acquisition and analysis of data as sample molecules interact with the nanopore.

12. Certifications Requirements/Program Office:

I certify that facts and representations under my cognizance included in this justification form are complete and accurate basis for the justification.

– Researcher

Contracting Officer:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

– Contracting Officer

Chief of the Contracting Office:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

– Section Head Plains Area Acquisition