Sole Source Justification Redacted.pdf

This is a Justification and Approval (J&A) document for a sole source procurement by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The acquisition involves a one-year firm-fixed-price Purchase Order with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), effective from May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2027. The contracting activity is VISN 9 – Network Contracting Office 9, located at Tennessee Valley Healthcare System in Nashville, Tennessee. The procurement is authorized under FAR 12 for commercial products and services, with the justification submitted using FAR 6.303-2 format, as acquisitions under Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from full competition requirements but still require justification documentation.

The sole source justification is based on statutory authority under 41 USC §3304(a)(5), as the NMDP is the only agency authorized by federal statute to provide donor matching services. The contract requires the NMDP to maintain a registry of potential sources of Human Leukocyte Antigen typed Hematopoietic Stem Cells for transplantation into unrelated patients and to regularly communicate with the Transplant Center regarding the progress of stem cell searches and patient matches. The justification references the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, which Congress reauthorized through the TRANSPLANT Act (Public Law 117-17) in 2021, extending authorization through 2026. The anticipated cost to the government is noted as fair and reasonable based on NMDP's established Transplant Center Fee Schedule, a fixed-price schedule updated annually with historical cost increases of approximately three percent. No market research was conducted due to the congressionally-authorized, non-competitive nature of the program, and no other sources expressed written interest in the acquisition.