NIH-NIDA-SSSA-RFP-16-82_Questions_ _Answers.pdf

Solicitation Number: NIH-NIDA-SSSA-RFP-16-82 Questions & Answers (Q&A)

February 18, 2016

1. Item 3a of the Statement of Work states that “outlier exclusion” is a requirement. Please clarify if the “outlier exclusion” is required to be automatic, based on some algorithm, or manual and whether exclusion of outlier controls and/or samples is required.

The “outlier exclusion” shall be performed manually at the data entry stage of database use.

2. Regarding Statement of Work Item 3a – please clarify what is meant by the term “max-fold”.

Statement of Work Item 3a has been revised with the following clarification which removes the technical term “max-fold”:

The database must be able to perform four parameter curve fits of titration response data based on the variable slope sigmoidal equation and using outlier exclusion. It must have the ability to calculate IC50/EC50 and Imax/Emax and/or fold change values (for example ratio Imax/Emax using reference standard), and show concentration/dose-response curves.

3. For Statement of Work Item 3c, please clarify the requirement for blinding the scientists from compound identification. Is hiding the structure sufficient or do you require some sort of “dummy” ID and correlation table?

Blinding the scientists from compound identification shall constitute hiding the compound structure and providing a different code number and correlation table.

4. With respect to Statement of Work item 7, Transition-In/Implementation, we would like clarification on the requirements, as follows:

a. Please clarify the phrase “data in a standard format from those projects”.

i. Will the format be the same for each project?

Data to be imported into the database may be different for each project, however the database shall have a standard format for all projects that may be customized to remove unnecessary fields.

ii. What format will the data be in?

Data may be in multiple formats; per Statement of Work Item 2c, “the database must be able to upload and represent chemical structures from various data types including but not limited to SMILES strings, InChI strings, SD files, and Mol files, among others. The software must display steroselective features of chemical structures, such as chiral centers and stereoisomers.”

b. The two timeframes listed seem contradictory. Users are expected to be trained one week after contract award, but the system is not expected to be ready for data deposition and analysis for one month.

i. Please clarify requirements to be met at time of training versus time when system is fully operational.

Training shall begin no later than following the first week of contract award and shall familiarize users with the system so that users can successfully navigate it without further training when the system is fully operational. Training shall take place in a “sandbox” version of the system that is not expected to have been uploaded with Government data.

Training shall be available for users until the system is fully operational.

When the system is fully operational within 30 days of contract award, the system shall be fully live and have been uploaded with all Government project data.

ii. Is initial training at one week meant to be on a “live”, production system with all data registration customizations in place?

Initial training to begin within one week following contract award is meant to be on a productions system of a “sandbox” variety that simulates the environment users will encounter when the system is fully operational following data from previous projects being uploaded. It is not expected that the data from previous projects will be fully uploaded into the system at the time of training; however the format of the system is expected to be the same as it will be at time of full operating capacity.

5. Clarification is needed on Statement of Work item 9b.

a. Is the format of the annual report the same as the quarterly report?

Yes, the format of the annual report shall be the same as the format of the quarterly report. The annual report, however, shall reflect a longer reporting period.

6. Regarding the Statement of Work, is the annual report meant to cover the same information as the quarterly report, but for the entire year rather than a single quarter?

Yes, the types of information to be included in the annual report shall be the same as those in the quarterly report. The annual report, however, will be for the entire year rather than a single quarter.

The Government expects to receive four reports per year: three quarterly reports covering Quarters 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and a single annual report covering Quarter 4 and the annual summary.

7. The SOW states that the contract will be firm fixed price. Attachment B (Proposal Instructions) Business Proposal Instructions Section, states that the “elements will include, as applicable, direct labor, fringe benefits, materials, subcontracts, purchased parts, other direct costs, shipping, indirect costs and rate, fee, and profit” Please confirm that this is not required since this is a fixed price contract.

The Government confirms that the “elements will include, as applicable, direct labor, fringe benefits, materials, subcontracts, purchased parts, other direct costs, shipping, indirect costs and rate, fee, and profit” are not required since this is a fixed price contract. The solicitation has been updated to reflect this.

8. Are the past performance write-ups included in the 35 page limit for the proposal?

No, the past performance write-ups are not included in the 35 page limit for the Technical Proposal. Please include past-performance in a separate searchable Adobe PDF file entitled “Technical Proposal Attachment 3: Past Performance.” Attachment B:

Proposal Instructions has been updated to reflect this.

9. Clarification on format for the Technical Proposal. Attachment B (Technical Proposal Instructions), first paragraph states “Contractors shall submit their technical proposal electronically in Microsoft Office format” while second paragraph states “Contractor shall submit its technical and price proposal electronically in a searchable Adobe PDF format”.

Please submit proposals in searchable Adobe PDF format. Attachment B has been updated to reflect this.

10. Is there an incumbent and if so who is it?

Yes, there is an incumbent contractor. Collaborative Drug Discovery, Inc. is the incumbent contractor under award number HHSN271201100676P. The total value of this award, inclusive of options, is $1,231,483.00.

11. P. 14 of the Solicitation document under 2.d. Invoice Matching Option. This contract requires a three-way match. Can you please explain what a “three-way-match” means in this context?

A three-way match indicates that, following the NIH Office of Financial Management receiving a hard copy invoice from the Contractor and entering it into NIH systems, the Contracting Officer’s Representative shall perform invoice review and direct the entering of receiving to approve or disapprove payment of invoices. Invoice instructions shall be provided to the successful offeror at time of award.

12. The limitation of the number of pages in Attachment B “Proposal Instructions”: Do all the forms and required attachments count towards the page count?

No, the 35-page and 33-page page limits provided in Attachment B for the technical proposal do not include the separate forms and required attachments indicated in Section J.

Please submit Attachments 1 and 2 in a single searchable Adobe PDF file labeled “Business Proposal Addendum 1.” There is no page limitation for the Business Proposal Addendum 1.

Please submit Attachments 3 and 4 as separate searchable Adobe PDF files labeled “Technical Proposal Addendum 1: Executive Summary” and “Technical Proposal Addendum 2: Section 508 Product Assessment” respectively. Please also provide a separate searchable Adobe PDF file labeled Technical Proposal Addendum 3: Past Performance” to address the past performance requirements of this solicitation.

Technical Proposal Addendum 1: Executive Summary and Technical Proposal Addendum 3: Past Performance shall each have a page limit of 3 pages inclusive of text, tables, and graphics. Technical Proposal Addendum 2: Section 508 Product Assessment has no page limitation.

For all Technical Proposal Addendums, text must be 12-point Times New Roman font.

Margins must be set at one (1) inch on top, bottom, left, right of each page. Pages shall be single-sided. Text included within tables and graphics must contain 12-point Times New Roman font.

Please submit Attachments 5 through 12 in a single searchable Adobe PDF file labeled “Business Proposal Addendum 2.” There is no page limitation for Business Proposal Addendum 2.

To summarize the above instructions, a total of seven (7) separate files shall be submitted as part of the proposal response. This includes 1) Technical Proposal; 2) Business Proposal; 3) Technical Proposal Addendum 1; 4) Technical Proposal Addendum 2; 5) Technical Proposal Addendum 3; 6) Business Proposal Addendum 1;

and 7) Business Proposal Addendum 2.

Attachment B: Proposal Instructions has been updated to reflect these instructions.

13. There are two contradicting requirements:

1. on page 45 under 2 it says: “Proposals will be typewritten, paginated, reproduced on letter size paper, printed/copied double-sided, on at least30 percent post consumer fiber paper, as required by FAR 4.302(b)” and

2. Attachment C PACKAGING AND DELIVERY OF PROPOSALS however states to email and to not send hard copies.

Can you please confirm that Attachment C overrides the statement on page 45 and that offerors shall only send the proposal, business and technical proposal and all attachments via email to the provided email address for Lauren Phelps Lauren.Phelps@nih.gov, no paper needed?

The Government confirms that Attachment C overrides the statement on page 45 and offerors shall only send proposals and all attachments via email to the provided email address for Lauren Phelps Lauren.Phelps@nih.gov, no paper needed. The solicitation has been revised to reflect this.

14. The Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, OMB Form SF-LLL is asking about details of lobbying. There does not seem to be a checkbox for “we do not lobby”. Do we need to fill the form in if we do not and did never lobby? If yes – how do we indicate that in the form?

In the event that an Offeror does not and has never participated in lobbying, please submit a separate attachment indicating this in lieu of submitting the OMB Form SF-LLL.

Please mark this attachment as “Attachment 8: Alternative to OMB Form SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.”

15. In the solicitation document on page 37, “Informal Attachments”; What is expected from the vendor regarding Attachment 10? This leads to a web-page with a list of items. It appears that one cannot open the records. Is there a specific one you want to point us in context with this Solicitation?

The Attachment 10: Privacy Act System of Records requirement has been removed from the solicitation. No Privacy Act Systems of Records Notices are relevant to this requirement, only the Information Systems Security and related clauses already included in the solicitation. The Solicitation attachments have been renumbered to reflect the removal of the attachment for Privacy Act System of Records.

mailto:Lauren.Phelps@nih.gov mailto:Lauren.Phelps@nih.gov

16. It is stated to provide the technical and the business proposal as two separate proposals. Do you require both to be separate files or should they be separate documents inside one file?

Please submit separate files for the technical and business proposals in accordance with Attachment B Revised Proposal Instructions.

17. There is a contradiction in Attachment B, the required format being “MS office” and a few sentences later “Adobe PFD” format. Can you please confirm in which format we should submit the proposal?

Please submit proposals in searchable Adobe PDF format. Attachment B has been updated to reflect this.

18. There is a limit to the number of pages mentioned for the technical proposal. Is there a page limit for the business proposal and if so, what is it?

No, there is no page limit for the business proposal.

19. The Solicitation document on page 36 relates to Attachment 1: "Section K - Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Offerors". We cannot locate this attachment (from inside SAM as advised in the RFP). As suggested on page 38 of the solicitation I want to request a copy of this attachment from you.

Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Offerors may be found in the United States System for Award Management (SAM) under Reps and Certs on the left side of the dashboard. A copy of the completed statements from SAM is sufficient for solicitation response (the read only provisions and fill-in clauses are identified in SAM in bold headings and shall be completed by the Offeror if/as appropriate).