NCATS Scientific and Technology Support Services (STSS) -Notice of Intent

PRESOLICITATION NOTICE OF INTENT

NON-COMPETITIVE

INTRODUCTION

Pursuant to FAR Subpart 5.2—Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, this is a Pre-Solicitation Notice Of A Proposed Contract Action.   

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). 

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition, on behalf of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), intends to negotiate and award a modification to the following single award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract that was awarded under Solicitation number 75N95021R00003:

Contract Number: 75N95021D00001, NCATS Scientific and Technology Support Servces (STSS), with Axle Informatics, LLC

This modification will increase the IDIQ maximum value for services the Government will acquire by $75.0 million from $49.9 million to $124.9 million for the two-year ordering period from March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2023.

REGULATORY AND STATUTORY AUTHORITY

The resulting contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses of the Federal acquisition Regulation (FAR) in effect through the current Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC).

This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive under the statutory authority of 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) and the authority of FAR 6.302-1 - Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

DESCRIPTION

Background: The mission of NCATS is to catalyze the generation of innovative methods and technologies that will enhance the development, testing, and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics across a wide range of human diseases and conditions. NCATS is at the forefront of automated biomedical experimentation, replacing hours of time-consuming basic laboratory work with systems and robots capable of conducting experiments with a fraction of the resources. This technology can both cut costs and increase productivity, which acts as a multiplier effect on research efficiency and raw output.

Though automated systems reduce the need for human labor, the systems and labs are not entirely self-sufficient. This contract will support the workforce responsible for the day-to-day operation of robotics and systems, as well as the infrastructure necessary to achieve top quality results.

NCATS engages in extensive intramural and extramural collaboration as it works to transform the translational science process in order to get more treatments to more patients more rapidly. NCATS relies on contractors for day-to-day support of the scientific and business systems that enable it to engage in that collaboration.

Requirements include support for scientific instrumentation, laboratory automation, robotics, data acquisition, analytics, and visualization, information technology infrastructure, end user customer support, and other areas. These systems are often components of more extensive scientific collaborative platforms, such as high throughput screening systems as part of the drug discovery process to support the intramural research program, or cloud-based data analytics platforms to support extramural clinical informatics initiatives. As such, these systems act as the foundation for key collaborative initiatives and are absolutely critical to NCATS’ mission, providing access to tools to drive scientific innovation for thousands of users around the country.

The purpose of this requirement is to provide the NCATS Information Technology Resources Branch (ITRB) with day-to-day support services for the following:

• Laboratory Management and Support

• Laboratory automation and equipment support

• Automation research services

• Scientific Program and Project Management

• Cheminformatics, Bioinformatics, Computational Chemistry and Biology

• Scientific Systems Programming and Research Data Management

• Scientific Cloud computing services and Engineering support

• Scientific research support

• End user support

REASON FOR THE NON-COMPETITIVE ACTION

The contract was originally competed and awarded based on full and open competition as a women-owned small business set aside. The contract was awarded on March 1, 2021 with the intent to fulfill NCATS’ STSS needs for a two-year ordering period. In order to continue the services unde the contract for the full two years, it is necessary to increase the maximum value of services that can be ordered under the contract.

Since award of the contract, NCATS’ requirements for the STSS has surpassed original estimates. ITRB has seen a significant expansion of its scientific and technology portfolio, contributing to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) response to the current COVID-19 pandemic and a new program in antiviral discovery and development to combat future pandemics. An increase in task order requirements under the IDIQ Contract is expected.

The provision of scientific and technical support services to this infrastructure is recurring and long-term in duration. However, in addition, NCATS has been tasked with extensive support for various COVID-19 emergency response initiatives, which has increased the support requirements provided under this contract. Due to the increased support requirements, the contract is anticipated to reach its ordering ceiling by early 2022, well in advance of its planned two-year ordering period.

The Government anticipates recompeting this requirement in FY2022, with award prior to the expiration date; however, it is necessary to increase the maximum dollar amount of services the Government will acquire in order to ensure that these mission-critical services are continued throughout the recompetition period.

Increasing the ordering limit ceiling constitutes a contract action without providing for full and open competition (see FAR 5.001 and Subpart 6.3) and requires justification and approval in accordance with FAR Subpart 6.3.

Axle has unique qualifications to provide the services for this requirement and is the only organization that can complete the specific work at this time. The Contractor has the necessary resources and infrastructure currently in place to meet the NCATS requirements and adhere to NIH and federal policies, laws and regulations.

Modifying the incumbentt IDIQ contract to increase the maximum value is the only efficient and effective way to ensure continuation of these services. Conducting a new acqusition for these services would require a minimum lead time of 12 months. Modifying the current IDIQ contract to increase the contract ceiling is the only effective way to support this goal without duplication of time and effort.  

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The IDIQ contract proposed for modification has an ordering period of March 1, 2031 to February 28, 2023 (2 years) (unchanged).

CONTRACT TYPE

Any additional task orders awarded to the incumbent contractor will be in accordance with the contract terms and conditions (either fixed price or time-and-materials).

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541519, Other Computer Related Services, with a small business size standard of $30.0 million.

INTENDED SOURCE

Axle Informatics, LLC

6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 400

North Bethesda, MD 20852-4931

CLOSING STATEMENT

This notice of intent to increase the maximum value of the existing IDIQ contract is NOT a request for competitive proposals; however, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice.

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed work based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. The Government will consider any such information solely for the purpose of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive acquisition. The determination whether to proceed with the proposed IDIQ contract modification is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Responses to this notice must contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capability of fulfilling the requirements described herein. The statement must also include the contractor’s Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and its certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM), which can be accessed at www.sam.gov.

All responses must be reference notice number 75N95022R00010. Responses must be submitted by email to Stuart Kern, Contract Specialist, stuart.kern@nih.gov.