FDA Notice of Intent to Sole Source

BCARS-based Quantitative and Non-Destructive Intracellular Mapping of Viral Load in Human and Hamster COVID-19 Organ Tissues

Intent to Sole Source:  FDA_SS_1240968

Date Posted:                June 14, 2021

Closing Date:               June 24, 2021

Classification Code:     B504 – Special Studies/Analysis

NAICS Code:              541690, Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services – Small Business Size of $16.5 million

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/Office of Acquisitions and Grants Services (OAGS) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis and potentially award a firm fixed price purchase order to Georgia Tech Research Corporation, 926 Dalney Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) – Soliciting from a Single Source.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), Division of Systems Biology, requires highly specialized broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (BCARS)-based quantitative and non-destructive cell-by-cell intracellular mapping of viral load in COVID-19 human and hamster tissue, including lung, heart, spleen, liver, and kidney tissues, based on RNA content and RNA/DNA levels at 300nm.  This imaging is required for a critical new study related to COVID-19 and its resultant disease, SARS-CoV-2, and is only available at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC), employing a highly-modified microscope and cameras customized for unprecedented speed, sensitivity and spectral breadth in BCARS imaging development. GTRC has the skill and expertise to provide the required BCARS-based imaging and presents as the only responsible source for this critical study element as part of the ongoing need to fully understand COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.    

This notice is being published in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 5.101(a)(2) requiring the dissemination of information on proposed contract actions. This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract and is not a request for competitive proposals. The statutory authority for this sole-source procurement is FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i).

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. Interested parties may identify in writing their interest and capability to respond, may submit a capability statement to Tim Walbert, Contract Specialist, at timothy.walbert@fda.hhs.gov before June 24, 2021 at 2:00pm CDT.  A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. If no responsive statements are received before the closing date and time, negotiations with, and subsequent award shall be made to, Georgia Tech Research Corporation.