Cisbio Pro-collagen Type 1 assay reagent kits

This is a Small Business Sources Sought (SBSS) notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice.
This notice is issued to help determine the availability and type of qualified Small Business companies technically capable of meeting this potential government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. The notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

The information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method including small business socio-economic set-aside possibilities and to determine the availability of qualified Small Business companies technically capable of meeting the Government's potential requirement. All Small Business companies with the capability and availability to perform the requirement under the applicable NAICS code are invited to submit a response to this notice.

NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The NAICS code applicable to this requirement is 325414-Biological Product (except
Diagnostic) Manufacturing with size standard 1250 employees.

BACKGROUND
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation's leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) focuses on getting more treatments to more patients more quickly. Several thousand genetic diseases affect humans, of which only about 500 have any treatment. NCATS is directly addressing this problem by discovering new technologies and other approaches that could greatly accelerate the process of developing and deploying solutions that can be used by all translational researchers.

To this end, one of the projects the center is focusing on is TRND Relaxin FIU project which has as goal to perform medicinal chemistry to measure type 1 collagen in a human cell line as a marker for inflammation. The HTRF Pro-collagen Type 1 (human) kit for the TRND Relaxin FIU project will continue research to support medicinal chemistry efforts. The goal of the project is to improve potency and PK properties of the current lead agonist of the relaxin receptor through medicinal chemistry. In order to support medicinal chemistry efforts, we need to examine the compounds' effects on a cell based model for fibrosis by assaying type 1 collagen production. In order to have high enough throughput, the assay needs to be homogenous and compatible with miniaturized 1536-well format. This HTRF kit, or its equal, is required since much of the data has already been generated.

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this potential acquisition is to obtain Assay Reagent kits on a Brand-Name-or-Equal basis to the HTRF Pro-collagen Type 1 (human) kit as identified herein that is manufactured by Cisbio US, Inc., located at 135 South Road, Bedford, MA 01730-2204.

The assay reagent kits are needed to run in vitro cell based assays to support medicinal chemistry for TRND-Relaxin FIU project in the Therapeutic Development Branch.

Project Requirements
Offerors submitting a response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall possess the ability to achieve the essential government features specified herein. Products offered must include those salient physical, functional, or other characteristics of the items identified in this notice that are manufactured by the subject vendor deemed essential in meeting the government's needs.
Specifically, the following are considered essential characteristics of this potential requirement, or its equal:
• Must be detectable in a sandwich assay format using 2 different specific monoclonal antibodies, one labeled with Europium Cryptate (donor) and the second with d2 (acceptor).
• Must allow for low volume sample size needed.
• Must be good for live cell, supernatant, and biochemical-based protocols.
• Kit must come as all-in-one ready to use kit with no necessity of additional purchase of components to make it work.
• Option for simple "add & read" protocol, no washing step.
• Sandwich immunoassay detecting human pro-collagen type 1
• Must allow detection of human pro-collagen type 1 in cell supernatants.
• Must allow quantification of human pro-collagen type 1 in cell supernatants.
• Must allow functional screening of compounds using Human pro-collagen type 1 secreting cells.

Products offered must be essentially equal to the supply described in this solicitation, which specifically includes the following manufacturer part number, product name and quantity:
63ADK014PEH; Pro-collagen Type 1 (human) kit- 10,000 tests; 6.00

Contractors submitting a response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall possess the ability to achieve the salient government essential features of this potential requirement. Specifically, Offerors to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall document evidence of being able to provide the subject supply that will allow for the essential features described herein to be accomplished.

Delivery/Warranty
Offerors must indicate an estimated delivery time in full after receipt of an order and any training or warranty or software licenses applicable or if extended years of service coverage are applicable. A fixed-price type of Purchase Order contract is anticipated to be awarded on or around September 1, 2019. Inspection and acceptance will be performed at NCATS located at 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20852.

CAPABILITY STATEMENTS/INFORMATION SOUGHT
Interested parties are expected to review this notice to familiarize itself with the requirements of this project. Failure to do so will be at your firm's own risk.

Respondents must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in this announcement; (d) quantity; (e) shipping, handling, and/or installation instructions, and/or any special delivery conditions after receipt of an order.

Respondents that believe that they are manufacturers or authorized re-sellers of the equipment specified in this announcement must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in the purchase description; (d) quantity; (e) estimated price or cost; (f) shipping, handling, and/or installation charges; and delivery date after receipt of order.

The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.

The information submitted must be in outline format that addresses each of the elements of this requirement. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.
The response is limited to ten (10) pages. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.

The response must include the respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.
Respondents must reference the subject announcement number on all correspondence related to this Small Business Sources Sought notice. The response must be submitted to Hunter Tjugum electronically, at hunter.tjugum@nih.gov, and be received prior to the closing date specified in this announcement.

CONCLUDING STATEMENTS
Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in 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 perform the work. 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 a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

.