Open Enrollment RFP#214584033AZ-R&D Sourcing: Scientific & Research Services

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), on behalf of the Virginia Higher Education Procurement Consortium (VHEPC) and The Virginia Association of State College and University Purchasing Professionals (VASCUPP), is issuing an open enrollment Request for Proposal (RFP #214584033AZ) to establish a competitively awarded pool of qualified firms to provide scientific and research services across five primary categories: contract research and laboratory services (including preclinical, translational, and clinical research support; study design and protocol development; bioanalytical and pharmacokinetic services; toxicology and pathology services; and regulatory reporting support); analytical, testing, and validation services (including chemical, biological, and materials testing; assay development; environmental and safety testing; quality control and quality assurance testing; and method development); engineering and technical services (including biomedical, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering support; instrumentation design and optimization; process development; and facility consulting); calibration, maintenance, and repair services (including equipment calibration, preventative maintenance, validation, and standards compliance); and research support and scientific consulting (including subject matter expertise, data science, biostatistics, computational modeling, regulatory consulting, grant support, and project management). The resulting agreements will be non-exclusive with an initial two-year term and options for up to four additional two-year renewals exercised by mutual written agreement. Proposals must be submitted via Smartsheet by May 18, 2026, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time, with questions due by April 30, 2026. The anticipated award date is August 15, 2026. Evaluation criteria include methodology and approach (30 percent), qualifications and experience (30 percent), pricing schedule (25 percent), Small Business and Supplier Diversity (SBSD) certified business status (10 percent), and sustainability (5 percent). Awarded vendors must execute a Master Agreement or Award Letter, maintain active registrations in Virginia's eVA procurement system and VCU's RealSource Procure to Pay Platform, and agree to project-specific engagement through Statements of Needs and purchase orders without guaranteed purchase commitments.

This procurement includes set-aside considerations for disadvantaged enterprises, with VCU establishing a goal of 42 percent SBSD certified business utilization and offering additional evaluation points for firms with active SBSD certifications. Vendors with active contracts from previous generations of this RFP should not resubmit, indicating an effort to rotate opportunities among new and existing providers. Upon award, contractors must execute the mandatory Publicly Accessible Contract (PAC) Agreement, which permits third-party access to the agreement at the contractor's discretion; if third-party access is elected and revenue is received from non-VHEPC entities, a one percent annual PAC fee applies to such revenue. All awarded contractors must submit quarterly sales reports to VHEPC within thirty days of quarter-end using the VHEPC Unified Quarterly Reporting Template with item-level transaction detail required regardless of sales volume. The procurement does not establish specific pricing terms, quantities, or funding amounts, as this is an optional-use agreement structured to serve future project needs as identified by VHEPC participating institutions and eligible public entities through subsequent Statements of Needs. Contractor costs and compensation will be negotiated individually for each project engagement through purchase orders or short-form agreements incorporating project-specific terms, deliverables, and pricing.