The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-66, February 28, 2013.
The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is- 541380 - Testing Laboratories; Size standards $12 million. This combined synopsis/solicitation is a Total 100% small business set-aside.
Respondents are responsible for delivery in person, by e-mail, fax, mail or other delivery method of their complete proposal and any additional documents before 1:00 pm (Central Standard Time - Local Prevailing Time in Jefferson, Arkansas) on April 10, 2013 to [email protected], Fax (870) 543-7990, or mail to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration, OO/OFBA/OAGS, Attention of Howard Nesmith, 3900 NCTR Road, Building 50, Room 424, Jefferson, AR 72079-9502.
PLEASE NOTE - The above contact information is for the Contracting Office and not the delivery address. The delivery address is indicated in the FOB Destination section below.
For information regarding this solicitation, please contact Howard Nesmith by e-Mail at [email protected].
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), is soliciting quotes for services for Assessing microRNA (miRNA) Expression.
Statement of Work (SOW)
The FDA/NCTR requires services for assessing microRNA (miRNA) expression changes in human cell lines using Next-Generation sequencing technology (Next-Gen). Next-Gen is required in order to provide full coverage of all the miRNA expressed in these cells after exposure to tobacco smoke condensates. The Illumina sequencing technology is required since other projects at NCTR have used this sequencing chemistry/technology and we want to be able to make one to one comparisons between the data without introducing bias that may occur with the use of different technologies. A total of 240 samples will be analyzed so that we can compare the effect of tobacco smoke condensates on the cellular expression of the miRNA.
Specific deliverables/timelines:
a) Once it receives the samples, the vendor shall complete the sequencing within 1 month and send out the following data summary reports in electronic format within the following 2 months:
1. Raw data file for each sample. Files shall be filtered to remove sequencing-specific adducts from the 3' end of each read.
2. A table of the flow cell statistics outlining the quality and yield of the flow cell(s) where samples were clustered and sequenced.
3. QC files regarding any presence of artifact/duplicate sequences, along with base distributions and qualities.
4. Alignment of filtered reads to the human genome.
5. An alignment file containing best alignments of each read to genome.
6. De-multiplexing of Illumina barcodes, if applicable
7. Provision of a tab-delimited file containing normalized counts of each miRNA with human miRBase (Sanger) accession for each sample.
The Government will provide a minimum of 1.25 ug of total RNA and the Government intends to provide 240 samples within 6 months of contract award.
b) Preparation of DNA libraries from the RNA that can be run on the Next-Gen platform.
c) Sequencing of the of the libraries using Illumina sequencing technology using 50 bases minimum per read and a minimum of 3 - 5 million reads per sample..
d) Alignment of the read data to the current reference human genome with transcript identifications assigned from miRBASE.
Item #1
Assessing microRNA (miRNA) Expressions
Quantity: 240
Unit Price: _____________________
Extended Price: _________________
GSA Contract Number (if applicable): ________________________
FOB Destination - U.S. Food and Drug Administration, National Center for Toxicological Research, 3900 NCTR Rd., Jefferson, AR 72079.
Contract Type - Commercial Item - Firm fixed price.
An official authorized to bind the Offeror must sign the terms and conditions of the offer. Offerors that fail to furnish required representations and certifications, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation, may be excluded from consideration.
Contract clauses-
The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. (Feb 2012)
The following addenda have been attached to the clause:
The supplies and/or services delivered hereunder shall be inspected and accepted at destination by the contracting officer's representative (COR) specified at award. If the supplies or services are acceptable, the COR shall promptly forward a report of inspection and acceptance to the paying office. If the supplies or services are not acceptable, the COR shall document the nonconforming items/services and immediately notify the contracting officer.
The following additional provisions and/or clauses apply and incorporated by reference and apply to this acquisition. Clauses and provisions can be obtained at http://www.acquisition.gov/far/
FAR Clause 52.204-4 Printed or Copied Double-Sided on Recycled Paper. (MAY 2011)
FAR Clause 52.204-7 Central Contractor Registration. (DEC 2012)
The following HHSAR clauses apply and can be obtained at the following website: http://farsite.hill.af.mil/VFHHSAR1.htm
352.202-1 Definitions JAN 2006
352.203-70 Anti-Lobbying JAN 2006
352.222-70 Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations OCT 2009
352.223-70 Safety and Health JAN 2006
352.231-71 Pricing of Adjustments JAN 2001
352.242-71 Tobacco-Free Facilities JAN 2006
The Contracting Officer is the only person with authority to act as agent of the Government under this contract. Only the Contracting Officer has authority to:
(1) Direct or negotiate any changes in the statement of work;
(2) Modify or extend the period of performance;
(3) change the delivery schedule;
(4) Authorize reimbursement to the Contractor any costs incurred during the performance of this contract; or
(5) Otherwise change any terms and conditions of this contract.
The Contracting Officer for this order is:
To be completed at time of award:
Phone: (870) 543-XXXX
Email: xxxx
The COR is responsible for:
(1) Monitoring the Contractor's technical progress, including the surveillance and assessment of performance and recommending to the Contracting Officer changes in requirements;
(2) Interpreting the statement of work and any other technical performance requirements;
(3) Performing technical evaluation as required;
(4) Performing technical inspections and acceptances required by this contract; and
(5) Assisting in the resolution of technical problems encountered during performance.
The COR for this order is: to be completed at time of award.
The clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items (Nov 2012), applies to this acquisition.
The following additional FAR clauses cited in this clause are applicable: 52.204-10, 52.209-6, 52.219-6, 52.219-28, 52.222-3, 52.222-19, 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, , 52.223-18, , 52.225-13, and 52.232-33.
Solicitation provisions
The provision at FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items applies to this solicitation.
Addendum Paragraph (c) Period for acceptance of offers. The offeror shall state on its quote that the quoted prices in its offer firm until September 30, 2012.
The provision at FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items is applicable to this solicitation. The specific evaluation criteria to be included in paragraph (1) of that provision are as follows:
The government will award the purchase order to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be the most advantageous to the Government on a best value (tradeoff) evaluation basis, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:
(i) Technical acceptability of the services offered to meet the Government's requirement.
(ii) Past Performance.
(iii) Price.
Technical acceptability is more important when compared to price in determining the best value to the government; however, price remains a significant factor.
Technical acceptability will be determined by review of the technical approach proposed to meet the requirements of the SOW.
Past Performance will be determined by review of recent (within the past 3 years) and relevant projects (completed by the Contractor within the last 3 years), where the Contractor demonstrates that it has performed services related to assessing microRNA (miRNA) expression changes in human cell lines using Next-Generation sequencing technology (Next-Gen). The Government reserves the right to look to other sources of information (e.g., the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), etc.) to support past performance evaluations.
The government is not responsible for locating or securing any information, which is not identified in the proposal. To ensure information is available, vendors must furnish as part of their proposal all descriptive material necessary for the government to determine whether the service meets the technical requirements. Quotes shall include technical specifications, descriptive material, literature, brochures and other information corresponding to each minimum required item, which demonstrates the capabilities of the offeror.
The Provision at FAR 52.212-3, Offerors Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. An offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of the provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically via http://www.acquisition.gov/far/. (Nov 2012)
An offeror should complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at http://orca.bpn.gov .
The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and assigned rating are not applicable to this solicitation notice.
It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the internet site for the release of an amendment to the combined synopsis/solicitation (if any).
Clauses and provisions incorporated by reference can be obtained at http://www.acquisition.gov/far