Development and Maintenance of a Non-Human Primate Tissue Bank

This is a Small Business Sources Sought 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 of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the 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.  This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Background:  The purpose of the National Institute on Aging’s Aged Non-Human Primate Tissue Bank (NHP TB) is to archive and distribute excess tissue from non-human primates (NHPs) that are being euthanized for research or humane purposes at sites/Institutions across the country. The NHP TB makes available to researchers investigating aging a unique resource of NHP tissues to test hypotheses in a model closely related to humans. With its repository, the NHP TB contributes to reducing the number of NHPs used by the research community since multiple investigators can access tissues from the same animal. Furthermore, investigators wishing to study aging in NHPs do not have to incur in the expense of obtaining and housing the animals. This is a particularly important aspect of this resource, as the supply of NHPs is limited and costly. The tissues are collected under well-defined and standardized protocols to ensure their integrity and quality. Tissues are available flash-frozen, embedded and frozen in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) medium without fixation, or fixed and embedded in paraffin, to meet the requirements of a wide-range of molecular and histochemical techniques. The NHP TB currently stores tissues from more than 250 geriatric donors and more than 130 control young donors from seven NHP species, including macaques, marmosets, tamarin, baboons and green monkeys. In 2018, NIDA awarded a 5-year contract for the maintenance of the NHP TB; this RFP is for the establishment of a new contract to continue this resource.

Purpose and Objectives: The objective of this contract is to acquire, archive, and distribute excess tissue from NHPs that are being euthanized for research or humane purposes at institutions around the country. Tissues will be flash-frozen, embedded and frozen in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) medium without fixation, or fixed and embedded in paraffin, to allow their downstream application in a wide-range of molecular and histochemical techniques. Clinical information, including but not limited to blood and urine analysis will also be collected, stored in a database, linked to the tissues from the same animal in the bank, and submitted to the NIA Primate Aging Database (PAD).

Project requirements: This will be a one (1) year plus four (4) option years, cost plus fixed fee contract. Under this contract, the Contractor shall receive NHP tissues from different institutions around the country, solicit tissue from sources identified by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or from sources identified through interactions with the research community and approved by the COR, coordinate the transfer of the tissue to the Contractor’s facility, process and aliquot, embed, section the tissue for preservation as needed, package, label and store the tissue, request from the source or perform blood and urine analysis, maintain a detailed inventory of the stored tissues, maintain a database of tissues and clinical information on the NHPs from which tissues were obtained, provide relevant clinical information and links to the source animal’s samples to the NIA Primate Aging Database (PAD), and ship tissues at the direction of the COR to investigators who request them.

Anticipated period of performance: The anticipated period of performance is from 09/30/2023 through 09/29/2028.

Capability statement /information sought. 
Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately.  Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Small businesses must also provide their Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. 

Interested small businesses are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and 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 number 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 respondent must also provide their Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, 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.

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font , 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.

The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein.  A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. 

The response is limited to a twenty (20) page limit.  The 20-page limit includes 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.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer.  Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Sarah Adan, Contract Specialist, at e-mail address sarah.adan@nih.gov and Valerie Whipple, Contracting Officer, at e-mail address valerie.whipple@nih.gov. 

The response must be received on or before November 9, 2022, 12:00pm, Eastern Time.