Proprietary Online Bioinformatics Database - PCANIAMS-07235-SS-.docx

Proprietary Online Bioinformatics Database (PCA-NIAMS-07235-SS)

Contracting Office Address Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisitions, OA Office of the Director, OD 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 537-S, Bethesda, MD, 20892.

Introduction This is a notice issued on behalf of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Acquisitions, OA Office of the Director, OD, DHHS, UNITED STATES. This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this Sources Sought is to seek the availability and capability of small business concerns, including 8(a) small business and/or small qualified small business concerns [including Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB), Woman-owned Small Businesses (WOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Small Businesses, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB] that are interested in and capable of performing the work described in the statement of work. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible.

Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities necessary to undertake this work should submit complete documentation of their capabilities to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement should include 1)Name and address of the vendor, 2) Size and type of business, 3) Point of contact with the name, title, phone, fax, and email, 4) UEI number. 5) the professional qualifications of experts, and technical personnel as it relates to the above outlined requirements, any other information considered relevant to this service. The capability statement must not exceed 7 pages. Interested small business organizations are required to identify their 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 numbers 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.

The purpose of this requirement is to provide the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) with DNA extraction and multi-gene analysis services for rodent tissue samples.

1.0 SCOPE

The contractor shall independently provide rodent genotyping support services, including DNA extraction and multi-gene analysis, in accordance with the requirements of this procurement. The contractor shall furnish all necessary personnel, services, materials, supplies, equipment, storage, and facilities required to perform the work, except for those specifically identified as Government-furnished. Required contractor personnel shall include, at a minimum, a Genotyping Laboratory Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, Local Technical Representative, and other qualified staff necessary to successfully perform the required services.

The Government will collect and provide rodent biological tissue samples for analysis and will furnish existing genotyping protocols and related technical documentation associated with the rodent samples, including construct sequences, manuscripts, and other supporting materials as applicable.

Services shall be performed on an as-needed basis through incremental requests issued by the Government. The estimated volume is approximately 1,480 samples per month.

2.0 CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS/ AND PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS

The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

2.1 Project Design

2.1.1 Provide sample collection and storage material supplies to the government for tissue collection. Supplies shall include 96 well plates and/or vials for sample collection, reagents, pipette tips, cap strips, probes refrigerated sample storage units for holding samples prior to genotyping analysis, appropriate pre-paid shipping containers, and a sample record tracking system/method.

2.1.2 Provide for all shipping and courier related costs for the government to send and receive samples. Shipping containers/packages are expected to be provided to the government as part of the provided service. Samples must be picked up by the contractor from the government at least three (3) times per week. The contractor shall provide a drop box for samples to be placed for pickup and an online submission tracking system to identify samples. Samples returned to the government must be shipped to the Program Manager via overnight express at room temperature but need not be refrigerated. Samples shall be picked up from and returned to the Government site located at 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892.

2.1.3 Store all provided samples and remaining biological tissues appropriately (according to protocol) for preservation for six (6) months after receipt from the government. Stored samples and remaining tissues shall be in maintained in such condition that subsequent nucleic acid analyses may be performed. Stored samples shall be returned to the government via overnight delivery upon request. Upon holding for 6 months, the contractor shall keep a database of samples and obtain approval from the government to either return or destroy samples. The government may request samples to be returned at any time during the 6-month storage. Samples will be returned upon request at the government's expense unless the plates or vials have been requested for results validation purposes.

2.1.4 Complete all DNA extractions, PCR assays, and analyses within 72 hours of contractor receipt of samples.

2.2 Testing:

2.2.1 Perform DNA extraction and isolation from biological samples provided from rodents, including rodent tail clips, ear punch, and toe clip samples.

2.2.2 Perform quality assurance analysis on 1% of the samples provided each week from the previous week. Quality assurance results shall then be provided to the government within one week. Additionally, all concerning items shall be reported to the Government program manager immediately.

2.3 Sample Analysis:

2.3.1 Utilize Government genotyping protocol for sample analysis and design a custom assay(s), free of charge if not available.

2.3.2 Perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for genotyping of all biological samples provided. PCR analysis may require between one and ten genes to be analyzed per sample. Genotyping protocol provided by the government includes the number of probes needed to analyze each sample.

2.3.3 Perform a re-test of any failed analyses or analyses with questionable results. This shall include all analyses, not just quality-assurance-tested analyses. The government inspects results to determine if a re-test is needed. Re-test, if required, shall be the responsibility of the contractor and shall not be charged to the government.

2.3.4 Provide reproducible genotyping assay information and any raw data obtained in genotyping analysis for all samples provided by the government, upon request.

2.3.5 Provide results of DNA extraction and PCR assays and analyses with annotation. Provide with annotation (translator tool) that can be used to include zygosity (homozygous, heterozygous, etc.) in their results.

2.3.6 Provide results via an online bioinformatics database with the real-time PCR data collected and results in output, which the government may easily access. The database shall be password protected and must meet Section 508 standards, though the database shall not be available to the public. Data should be available for download for up to 3 months.

2.3.7 The online bioinformatics database must be able to interface, using XML (Extensible Markup Language) or comparable language, with an existing Government database known as "LabTracks," which holds existing genotyping data. XML format result file needs to be sent to a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) address accordingly.

2.3.8 Genotype data must be formatted and shall be exportable into LabTracks without any manual entry. The contractor database information shall be importable into the NIAMS database (LabTracks), and the contractor database shall be able to accept information from the NIAMS database if needed. All information must be kept secure.

2.4 Other Requirements:

2.4.1 Any services to be furnished under this purchase order shall be ordered by issuance of request orders by the individuals in this purchase order. Such a series of orders may be issued from the effective date of the contract through the last day of the purchase order or until the maximum quantity is reached, whichever is later. Except for the maximum order quantity limitations in the purchase order, there is no limit on the number of requests that may be issued.

2.4.2 If mailed, an order is considered "issued" when the government deposits the order in the mail or designated area. Orders may be issued orally or by electronic commerce methods only if authorized and by the designated individual identified in the purchase order.

2.4.3 The contractor shall be responsible for tracking the sample requests and shall not exceed the maximum order quantity listed in the table above for the listed period of performance.

2.4.4 The contractor billing shall be based on the number of series of request orders completed and shall submit one (1) monthly invoice which shall contain the total quantity order in that month, order description and report delivery date.

2.4.5 Provide telephone support to the government to resolve any support issue in an effective and timely manner between the hours of 7:30 AM and 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday, Maryland local time.

2.4.6 Data Rights: FAR Clause 52.227-14 Rights in Data – General shall be applicable to this requirement. All data provided and produced in relation to this requirement shall be solely owned by the government. The contractor will not publish scientific data based on this requirement.

Point of Contact

Lynda Cole, Contract Specialist, Office of the Director, OD, Lynda.cole@nih.gov.

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisition, Office of the Director, 6701 Rockledge Dr., Rm 537-S, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

Submission Instructions:

Interested parties shall submit capability statements via email to Lynda Cole at Lynda.cole@nih.gov. Due Monday, June 29, 2026 @ 5:00 pm EST.

All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered.

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 provide the item. 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 will be published in SAM.GOV. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.