Sources Sought.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT

1.0 INTRODUCTION & PURPOSE

The Contracting Activity is NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center, Naples, Italy, is issuing this Sources Sought Notice as a market research tool to determine the availability of qualified commercial sources capable of providing specialized hands-on laboratory training and proprietary molecular reagents.

The purpose of this notice is to identify businesses that possess the legal authority, technical capability, and logistical capacity to deliver training on the deployment and validation of the Virome-Capture-Sequencing platform for Vertebrate viruses (VCS-VERT) workflow. This capability must support forward-deployed force health protection and biological surveillance missions within the USAFRICOM Area of Responsibility (AOR).

This is a market survey for planning purposes only. No contract will be awarded directly from this notice.

2.0 SUMMARY OF PWS REQUIREMENTS

The Government requires an all-inclusive, Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) solution consisting of the following key elements:

• CLIN 0001: Technical Instruction & On-Site Labor: Delivery of a 10-day (Monday through Friday) in-person technical training program for four (4) to eight (8) Government and host-nation scientists, covering both wet-lab molecular library preparation and dry-lab bioinformatics pipeline setup.

• CLIN 0002: Reagents and Sequencing Materials (Package A+): Delivery of one (1) specialized, pre-built reagent package optimized for high-throughput target-capture sequencing of up to 288 samples.

• Place of Performance: Training must be conducted physically at the host-nation laboratory, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) in Accra, Ghana.

• Hard Schedule Ceiling: To comply with federal appropriations guidelines and immediate mission timelines, all training must commence, and all materials must be delivered and invoiced, no later than September 30, 2026.

3.0 STRINGENT CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS (TECHNICAL CRITERIA)

To be determined capable of performing this requirement, responding vendors must submit a Capability Statement demonstrating compliance with the following mandatory, non-negotiable criteria:

3.1 Intellectual Property and Patent Rights (VCS-VERT Chemistry)

• The required molecular training and reagents utilize the proprietary VirCapSeq-VERT (VCS-VERT) platform. This technology is legally protected under active United States Patent

US20180265935A1.

• Mandatory Submission: Responding vendors must provide uncontestable, written legal proof of their right to practice, manufacture, distribute, and conduct training on the patented VCS-VERT workflow.

• If the responder is not the patent holder (The Trustees of Columbia University), they must submit an active, unredacted Authorized Reseller/Distributor Certificate signed directly by the patent holder's technology transfer authority. General letters of partnership, standard reseller claims, or non-specific academic affiliations are legally insufficient and will result in a determination of non-capability.

3.2 Molecular-to-Hardware Compatibility

• The training and sequencing runs must be executed utilizing the existing, host-nation-owned Illumina NextSeq 2000 sequencing platform permanently located at the NMIMR laboratory in Accra, Ghana.

• Mandatory Submission: Responders must demonstrate that their proposed reagent kits and custom target-enrichment probes are molecularly validated, chemically compatible, and certified to run the agnostic viral-discovery workflow on the host's existing NextSeq 2000 system.

• The Government will not accept proposals that require shipping alternative sequencing instruments to Ghana, nor will the Government authorize the transport of biological samples off-site for outsourcing.

3.3 Target Enrichment & Pathogen-Agnostic Capacity

• The required workflow must be "pathogen-agnostic," capable of capturing, isolating, and mapping all known vertebrate viruses representing over 200 viral families and thousands of individual species in a single sequencing run.

• Mandatory Submission: Responders must submit validated scientific data showing that their proposed target-capture chemistry achieves a clinical sensitivity of 99% and clinical specificity of 100%, and maintains the molecular capacity to successfully bind and enrich viral genomes that have mutated by up to 60%.

3.4 Logistical Readiness & Joint Contingency Clearances (USAFRICOM AOR)

• The Contractor must have the immediate capacity to deploy two (2) senior PhD-level genomic instructors to Accra, Ghana, to execute the 10-day hands-on training session.

• Mandatory Submission: Responders must confirm their ability to meet the hard performance deadline of September 30, 2026, factoring in the contractor-required 14-day advance notice window.

3.5 Genomic Data Sovereignty and Security

• All biological samples utilized during the training are governed by an active Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) and remain the property of the Government and NMIMR.

• Mandatory Submission: Responders must confirm that their bioinformatics pipeline software can be installed locally and executed on the host laboratory's isolated computer network. The contractor must certify that no raw genomic sequence data (FASTQ files) or digital sequence information (DSI) will be copied, retained, or transited to servers outside the physical control of the host laboratory.

4.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested and qualified sources are requested to submit a Capability Statement (not to exceed five pages) addressing all elements listed in Section 3.0 of this notice. Submissions must include:

1. Company Name, Address, CAGE Code, and Unique Entity ID (UEI).

2. Business Size Status (e.g., Large, Small, HubZone, SDVOSB).

3. Direct, point-by-point evidence of compliance with the criteria in Section 3.0

(specifically including the US20180265935A1 Patent Authorization and NextSeq 2000 compatibility).

4. Standard commercial catalog pricing or past invoices for similar training services.

Submissions shall be delivered electronically via email to the Contract Specialist, Daniela Pollano, at daniela.pollano.ln@us.navy.mil, with a copy to the Contracting Officer at david.biggs20.civ@us.navy.mil, no later than 1300 on 28 August 2026.