The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support and Simplified Acquisitions Branch (SS/SA) intends to negotiate and award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to Plexon, Inc. for a 64-Channel OmniPlex Data Acquisition System.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 334516 with a Size Standard of 500 employees.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY
The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 05- 69 dated August 1, 2013.

This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($150,000).

STATUTORY AUTHORITY
This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6-Competition Requirements.

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this potential requirement is acquisition of a 64-Channel OmniPlex Acquisition System to be used by the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) Laboratory of Neuropsychology. This system will be used to study neuronal activity and neuron to neuron interactions during complex behavioral tasks. This particular system is necessary to ensure compatibility with existing software analysis tools in the NIMH laboratory.

Period of Performance
It is anticipated that delivery and installation of the abovementioned equipment would be concluded within three months of a contract award. A firm fixed price award is anticipated.

Project Description
One (1) 64-Channel OmniPlex Acquisition System is required and it must include the following:

1. One (1) OmniPlex D (Manufacturer's Part No. 94200)
2. One (1) Digitizing Amplifier DA1/64 (Manufacturer's Part No. 94213)
3. One (1) OmniPlex SW/64 (Manufacturer's Part No. 94233)
4. Two (2) HST/32o25-GEN3-36P-G1 (Manufacturer's Part No. 33499)
5. Two (2) HSC/32o25-GEN3-36L (Manufacturer's Part No. 33500)
6. One (1) HTU/32o25-36P (Manufacturer's Part No. 51007)
7. One (1) CBL/DI-OmniPlex-BW-15L (Manufacturer's Part No. 90426)
8. One (1) PLX-6 System Controller (Manufacturer's Part No. 91414)
9. One (1) MON/24LCD-W-OPX (Manufacturer's Part No. 91167)
10. Shipping and Handling Costs

CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION
The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted. The intended source is:

Plexon, Inc.
6500 Greenville Avenue, Suite 730
Dallas, TX 75206

Plexon, Inc. is the manufacturer of much of the equipment used for all previous neurophysiological experiments run by the Section on Neurobiology and Memory at the NIMH and analysis tools used in the Section were designed for use with Plexon equipment. To use alternative equipment would require extensive creation of new data analysis tools and would also create two different sets of analyzed data, unnecessarily complicating research studies. As such, only Plexon, Inc. is capable of meeting this requirement.

CLOSING STATEMENT
This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov."

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.

All responses must be received by September 19, 2013 at 12:00 PM EST and must reference number HHS-NIH-NIDA- 2013-3114113. Responses may be submitted electronically to Lauren Phelps at [email protected] or by U.S. mail to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support Contracts and Simplified Acquisitions Branch (SS/SA) 31 Center Drive, Room 1B59, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, Attention: Lauren Phelps. Fax responses will not be accepted.

"All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency."