Sole Source Justification 36C257-25-AP-3844 v1.pdf

Effective Date: 11/15/24 Page 1 of 4

REVISION: 01

Acquisition ID#: 36C257-25

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION UNDER SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS IN

ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 13.5

Acquisition Plan Action ID: 36C257-25-AP-3844

JOFOC: FY25-NCO17-1809

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Procurement Office West, Network

Contracting Office 17 (NCO17), 5441 Babcock Rd. Ste 302, San Antonio, Texas 78240 on behalf of South Texas Veterans HealthCare System (STVHCS), Research and Development, 7400 Merton Minter Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78229.

Transaction:671-25-4-336-0367

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed:

South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) is requesting service and facility access contract for the University of Texas Health Science Center of San Antonio (UTHSCSA) core laboratories services provide a critical need for Research Investigators. The laboratories and facilities are located on campus. These types of services are used daily in most research laboratories. The research services and education are provided by internationally recognized faculty advisors and expert technical staff, making valuable research partners. Working with our STVHCS academic affiliate keeps fees for these services very reasonable and affordable to VA funded researchers who usually have a very limited research budget. Using another off-site core lab would cost more and seriously damage a research program. To delay the use of these core labs would cause investigators and/or their lab personnel to fail to meet their project deadlines, as well as increase the risk for future funding. All experiments need to be completed to achieve specific goals of the VA funded grant, and these experiments are on animals. Animals are sacrificed daily which makes their blood and tissue samples limited and time sensitive. The advantage of using a local core lab is the convenience of being in the same building and processing samples the same day to avoid the time sensitive issues with the tissues and their structures. Most of these animals are bred for a year or more to develop results needed to obtain a project’s goal.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency’s Needs:

Attachments included with JOFOC:

UTHSA Institutional Core labs Service UT System

Period of Performance: 09/25/2025-09/24/2030 Total Estimated Value: $275,000.00

Effective Date: 11/15/24 Page 2 of 4

Acquisition ID#: 36C257-25

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Restricted Competition:

FAR 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The statutory authority for applying the Simplified Procedures for Commercial Items of FAR 13.5 is 41 U.S.C. § 1901 and is implemented by FAR 13.106-1(b)(2) for restricting competition on this procurement. Competition is restricted on this procurement for the reason below:

(x) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements

() Unusual and Compelling Urgency () Industrial Mobilization, Engineering, Developmental or Research Capability or Expert

Services () International Agreement () Authorized or Required by Statute () National Security () Public Interest

5. Demonstration that the Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority):

STVHCS and UTHSCSA have an affiliate agreement in place which allows for core laboratory research testing and training of researchers to be performed at the UTHSCSA facility. Due to the short viability period of the test samples, testing must be conducted in an expedited manner. Sending testing to other research facilities would cause the specimen to become unstable and accurate results would not be able to be produced. Research testing and educational services for the following departments and testing categories can only be provided by UTHSCSA at this time.

a. Department of Pathology South Texas Reference Laboratory (STRL) core services to include Cytogenetics;

Electron Microscopy; Flow Cytometry; Fungus testing; Histopathology; and Molecular Diagnostics.

b. Department of Cellular & Structural Anatomy (CSA) core services to include Biobanking and Genome analysis; Optical Imaging; Imaging Facility Core; and UT Health Research

c. Institutional Research Core Laboratory (RCL) core services to include Bioanalytic and Single-Cell processing; Biobanking and Genome analysis; Biomolecular NMR; Flow Cytometry; Macromolecular Interactions; Mass Spectrometry; Micro CT; Optical Imaging; and X-RAY Crystallography.

d. Preclinical Pharmacology Core services to include Solubility, Microsomal Clearance, Plasma stability, Plasma Protein binding, Permeability, in vitro Toxicology, RACE analysis, Comprehensive PK, Advanced ADME Services

6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable:

To ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, market research was conducted in accordance with FAR part 10 and VAAR part 810 to determine if there were any SDVOSB’s, VOSB’s and small businesses that could provide the required testing and use of the lab facilities. No businesses responded to the Special notification number 36C25725Q0716 posted on SAM.gov on 07/08/2025 and closed on 07/16/2025. The current contract is awarded to UTHSCSA, which vendor is capable of providing the required service for this requirement.

7. Determination by the CO that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The Contracting Officer will compare pricing to a contract for similar service

Effective Date: 11/15/24 Page 3 of 4

Acquisition ID#: 36C257-25

(36C25720N0665 for South Texas Health Care System), and IGCE to determine if the price is fair and reasonable.

8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons

Market Research Was Not Conducted:

Market research was conducted in accordance with FAR part 10, VAAR part 810 and PPM 2016-05 (Revised Aug 2019).

a. GSA elibrary: searched “laboratory Research” resulted in zero (0) vendors.

b. SBA: searched NAICS code 541715 for SDVOSB’s/VOSB’s and search resulted in four (4)

SDVOSB’s/VOSB’s vendors. All four (4) vendors capability statements were reviewed and resulted in aircraft development or other Engineering services.

c. SBA: searched NAICS code 541715 for other small business vendors and search resulted in four

(4) vendors. All four (4) vendors’ capability statements were reviewed and resulted in aircraft development, other Engineering services, strategic planning and IT development.

d. FPDS: searched “reference lab testing” and resulted in 62 large vendors and price range from

$23,071.99 to $1,424,835.00.

e. Ability One: searched “research laboratory service” and search resulted in zero (0) vendors.

f. Unicor: searched PSC code Q301 and search resulted in zero (0) vendors.

g. Current Action: Current BPA base plus four contract was awarded to UTHSCSA, BPA

36C25720A0028 in the amount of $90,000.00 and will expire 09/24/2025.

h. NOI 36C25725Q0716 was posted on 07/08/2025 and closed on 07/16/2025 at 9:00 AM CST.

Zero (0) vendors responded.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition:

None

10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition:

University of Texas Health Science Center of San Antonio 7703 Floyd Curl Dr.

San Antonio, TX 78229 POC: Ramiro Ramirez- Solis ramirezsolis@uthscsa.edu 210-567-2059 mailto:ramirezsolis@uthscsa.edu

Effective Date: 11/15/24 Page 4 of 4

Acquisition ID#: 36C257-25

11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required:

Market research will continue to be conducted prior to the award of any IDIQ orders to determine if there are any changes to the marketplace. If there are changes to the marketplace which allow for more than one vendor to provide the required service for this requirement, then a new solicitation will be considered to promote competition.

A sole source effort is required for the five years, from 09/25/2025-09/24/2030, as it is currently anticipated that there are no other vendors who can provide the required service for this requirement.

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide

Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Kassandra Mcfadden Date Health Science Specialist-ACOS for Research South Texas Health Care System

13. Approvals in accordance with the VHAPM Part 806.3 OFOC SOP:

a. Contracting Officer or Designee’s Certification (required): I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Delphia Schoenfeld Date Contracting Officer, Lab Services Support Network Contracting Office 17

b. One Level Above the Contracting Officer (Required over SAT but not exceeding $750K): I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition.

Michael J. Tusinger Date Branch Chief, Lab Services Support Network Contracting Office 17 https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/VHAProcurement/VHAPM/VHAPM_Part_806.3.aspx