Notice of Intent to Sole Source

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE-SOURCE CONTRACT AND IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS.

The United Stated Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, IAW FAR 6.302-1(a) (2) (ii), with BioDiscovery LLC, 5692 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, as the only responsible source than can provide the required MYBaits custom enrichment kits. This acquisition is being conducted under FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items. Provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-88 are incorporated.

The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES), Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) intends to procure firm-fixed-price purchase order for BioDiscovery Mybaits custom target enrichment kits that are specifically mandated for AFDIL's mission requirements in assisting AFMES with recent death investigations of military and civilian personnel lost in training mishaps, conflicts, and war; and the Joint Pacific Accounting Command (JPAC) with past accounting of military and civilian personnel lost during World War II, the Korean War Vietnam and the Cold War. The customized kits are compatible with the Illumina MiSeq instrument and the raw data can be assembled and analyzed in the CLCBio software. These kits have been forensic validated and mandated for this research. The kits have been verified by the government to be reproducible, robust and free from human mitochondrial and nuclear SAN contamination and are essential for use with the challenging samples encounters in AFDIL's mission requirements. The custom target enrichment kits are an essential component in assisting the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) with DNA testing for the identification of U.S. Service members as mandated under title 10 USC, chapter 75,1471 and 10 USC, Chapter 78, 1501-1513; NDAA 2010, Section 541 (d) (2) and DODI 5154.30.

Items being included in this acquisition:
MyBaits customer enrichment kits with up to 20,000 baits, 768 reactions with streptavidin beads.

The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) is a forensic DNA testing laboratory that is accredited by the American Society of Laboratory Directors to the International Organization Standards (ISO)-17025, American Society of Laboratory Directors/Lab-International supplemental, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Quality Assurances Standards (QAS). In accordance with these requirements, the BioDiscovery MyBaits custom enrichment kits have been compared against other commercial equivalents; were deemed optimal for use with samples processed at AFDIL in support of AFMES missions; and were then validated for use following accreditation standards. The MyBaits customer enrichment kits with up to 20,000 baits, 768 reactions with streptavidin beads listed in this source requirement and have been validated and mandated for use.
BioDiscovery LLC is the sole manufacturer and reseller for the validated customized enrichment kits required for this acquisition. Based on AFDIL's accreditation requirements by the American Society of Laboratory Directors to the International Organization Standards (ISO)-17025, American Society of Laboratory Directors/Lab-International supplemental, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Quality Assurances Standards (QAS). All accredited laboratories are required to follow the FBI-QAS reagent, instrument, software validation requirements, prior to utilizing any reagents, instrumentation, and/or software for testing casework samples. In accordance with these requirements, the MyBaits custom enrichment kits from BioDiscovery LLC have been compared against other commercial equivalents; were deemed optimal for use with samples processed at AFDIL in support of AFMES missions; and were then validated for use following accreditation standards. Further, AFMES' mission requires consistency and standardization of testing to accomplish its overall mission and to maintain credibility, therefore, accuracy is critical to AFMES' mission.
All accredited laboratories are required to follow the FBI-QAS reagent, instrument, software validation requirements, prior to utilizing any reagents, instrumentation, and/or software for testing casework samples. Failure to utilize the forensically validated MyBaits custom enrichment kits will lead to work stoppage or mission delays and cause the government a significant amount of time and money to validate other commercial kits as well as retrofit or buy new instrumentation compatible with other commercially available kits.
The intended procurement will be classified under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 3325413 with a Small Business Size Standard of 1,250 employees. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation document will be posted for this requirement. However, parties interested in responding to this notice shall submit technical data, including cost, sufficient to determine capability in providing the same product. All capability statements received by closing of this notification of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. 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 normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.
Based on the above information, the only technically acceptable customized enrichment kits are provided by BioDiscovery LLC, 5692 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.

Submit email capabilities statements (using PDF, MS Word, Excel attachments) to Kimberly Hannan at kimberly.s.hannan.civ@mail.mil. Statements are due no later than 1:00 P.M. EST on 07 July 2015. No phone calls accepted.

Contracting Office Address:
U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, ATTN: MCMR-AAA, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5014

Place of Performance:
Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover Air Force Base, DE 19902