Amendment_8_N01CN55003-47.pdf

RFP Number : N01CN55003-47 Amendment 8

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OFFICE OF ACQUISITIONS

NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NUMBER: N01CN55003-47

Amendment No.: 8

Date of Issuance: 3/13/2015

The above numbered Request For Proposal (RFP) is amended as set forth below. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offerors remains unchanged: 3/30/15 2:00PM EST.

Offerors MUST acknowledge receipt of the amendment prior to the hour and the date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by separate letter, telegram, or Electronic Mail which includes a reference to the RFP and Amendment number(s). For your convenience, the Proposal Intent Response Form is provided in SECTION J - List of Attachments of this RFP, for this purpose.

FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERORS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER.

This Amendment provides responses to questions received on 3/6/15, 3/9/15 and 3/11/15, as stated below:

Inquiry 1 dated 3/6/15 -

Question 1: related to the Statement of Work. Page 49 of the solicitation provides instructions for the Statement of Work that is to be submitted with the Technical Proposal. Yet Final Attachment 9 provides more instructions on the Statement of Work that are related to the Task Order. Are we to submit 2 Statements of Work, one statement will cover our scope of work for the entire 3 years of the contract and will describe our intended work under the contract (how many studies we hope to initiate, what our approach is going to be to initiating such studies) and a second statement of work describing our approach to performing the work proposed under the Task Order?

Response 1: The offeror should submit two Statements of Work. The first one should cover the scope of work for the entire three years of the contract and will describe the intended work under the prime contract. The second one is specific to the sample task order.

Question 2: related to the VAS and the VAS worksheet, and is whether the VAS should provide a detailed description of the proposed use of ALL animals to be used in studies proposed under this contract, or should the VAS only be prepared for the animals proposed in Task Order 1. I also have a question as to whether it is possible for us to obtain the Sample on page 5. It could be very helpful.

Response 2: The offeror should complete the VAS worksheet and provide elaborate information about animals that have been used in studies relevant to the proposal under this RFP. An example can be found at the following link:

VASExample.pdf

Inquiry 2 dated 3/9/15 -

Question 1: In the past, the NIH has asked that an annual inflation rate for salaries be no more than 2%. Is there a maximum inflation rate for annual salary increases on this N01?

Response 1: This is a business decision/subject to your company policy and a negotiation point.

Question 2: For the budget, can fringe benefits rates increase over the period of the project?

Response 2: Per page 55-56 of the RFP, you must indicate how indirect costs were computed and applied, including cost breakdowns and provide a basis for evaluating the reasonableness of the proposed rates. Indicate the rates used and provide an appropriate explanation. If you have a negotiated rate agreement, you must adhere to those rates and provide a copy of the rate agreement.

http://dgs.nci.nih.gov/downloadFile.do?id=3418164&fn=VASExample.pdf

RFP Number : N01CN55003-47 Amendment 8

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Question 3: If you include a subcontract in the example task order budget, should the subcontract PI budget travel costs for one person, similar to what is prescribed for the prime institution?

Response 3: If you are proposing travel costs, they need to be in compliance with gsa.gov. Provide the cost of travel including destination, duration, purpose, per diem, transportation and the basis for pricing.

Inquiry 3 dated 3/11/15 -

Question 1: Indirect cost/Direct cost Ratio We are wondering whether when will be the appropriate time for our organization to initiate discussion /negotiation of the indirect cost rate with NIH as our organization does NOT have the pre negotiate indirect cost rate agreement with

NIH.

Response 1: This is a business decision. See Inquiry 2, Response 2.

Question 2: Mutual Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) It is anticipated that we will (may) share some confidential information during the process, would it be possible that we can sign a mutual Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) agreement with NIH and we have the general template available for NIH to review.

Response 2: Anything released out of the contracts office has to go through the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) office. Our office does not share or release any information without an appropriate FOIA request.

END OF AMENDMENT 8.