N44852_VEID239019_HighsensivityDNAkits

A.BACKGROUND
NAMRU-6 conducts a study entitled, “Surveillance for Emerging Viral Respiratory Pathogens in South America”, which is aimed at identifying the circulating influenza strains and other respiratory pathogens in the region. Recently, this protocol was expanded to include knowledge on acute febrile diseases as well as ILI in the region. Not only has this approach enhanced the epidemiology of viral pathogens, but it has also contributed in the description of influenza virus emergence patterns, and the detection of outbreaks of respiratory and acute febrile diseases. This information has aided in the development of the annual seasonal vaccine used in the region. Surveillance performed by the NAMRU-6 over the past two decades has been instrumental in characterizing the burden of endemic tropical diseases throughout the region, all of which contribute to the accomplishment of the AFHSD-GEIS mission.

B. OBJECTIVES
The Virology & Emerging Infections Department of the U.S. Naval Medical and Research Unit No. 6 (NAMRU-6) is seeking to purchase reagents to perform quality control of libraries that later will be sequenced in either MiSeq or MiniSeq platforms developed by Illumina, as part of the projects of next-generation sequencing (NGS) that are being conducted at this command. Quality control is vital for any next generation sequencing (NGS) workflow. Insufficient library clean-up steps can lead to the presence of contaminants such as adapter dimers, primer dimers, or partial library constructs that can greatly affect library quantification and subsequent clustering efficiency. The kits must be designed for the separation, sizing and quantification of dsDNA samples of limited abundance and sized from 50 - 7000 bp using the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer instrument.
Shipment must be airfreight due to the delicate nature of items requested.
If capable sources are not identified through this notice, then NAMRU 6 intends to award a sole source contract under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(i) to Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2850 Centerville Rd., Wilmington 19808-1610 USA. 

This pre-solicitation is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation document exists for the requirement. Sources interested in responding to this notice are required to submit a capability statement that includes management and technical data and cost information, in sufficient detail and with convincing evidence that clearly demonstrates the capability to supply the required goods or perform the required work. Capability statements shall not exceed 5 (8.5 x 11 inch) pages using a font size no smaller than 10-point. All capability statements received by the due date of this notice will be considered by the Government. A request for documentation or additional information or submissions that only ask questions will not be considered as an affirmative response. A determination by the Government not to compete based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement or to proceed with a sole source contract.
Capability statements are due by 6:00 Lima / Peru Local Eastern Time on Sep 25, 2023. Capability statements shall be submitted by e-mail ONLY as a Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF attachment to the following address: luciana.i.encinas.ln@health.mil and Javier.b.gil.ln@health.mil. Please use subject line "NAMRU-South DNA high sensitivity kits for lab VEID239019".