Description: This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Background: The contractor shall provide genetically engineered induced pluripotent stem cell  (iPSCs) for the purpose of creating a national cell repository as an open resource for the scientific community and as a tool to characterize how mutations change fundamental biological properties of disease-relevant cell types.

Purpose and Objectives: To generate a collection of engineered isogenic Alzheimer's diseases and related dementias (ADRD)-mutation iPSC lines. 

Project Requirements:

• The project seeks to generate human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines harboring mutations in 6 well-studied Parkinson’s Disease (PD)/Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) genes.
• The Contractor will engineer iPSC lines harboring PD/DLB-associated genetic knock-in mutations using CRISPR/Cas9.
• The Contractor will endeavor to generate heterozygous and homozygous clones for each of the twelve PD-associated genetic variants.
• The Contractor will then recover 3 or more independent revertant clones for each of the projects, in which the mutated allele will be reverted back to the wild-type allele. In total, the project will generate 36 new iPSC lines.
• All lines will undergo quality control including karyotyping and whole genome sequencing techniques.

LEVEL OF EFFORT:
The Contractor will provide the assay results via reporting transfer thru email.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
The Contractor will provide documentation regarding:

1. General method of engineering employed for each line, including information about the nuclease used and protein/plasmid-based delivery (e.g., WT spCas9 RNP, TALENs, plasmid-based CRISPR, etc.)
2. Karyotyping results for reach targeted chromosomal mutation.
3. Whole genome sequencing results

TRAVEL

The principal place of performance is the vendor’s work site. Travel for contractor employees will not be necessary.

KEY PERSONNEL

The Contractor will provide a dedicated project manager to the government as a point of contact for the services.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The government will provide iPSC starting material to the contractor. 

DELIVERY / DELIVERABLES

For each engineered iPSC project, independent clones (three or more revertant, six heterozygous, and six homozygous) will be expanded and archived in quadruplicate 96-well Matrix storage plates, each containing 8 vials per clone. Vendor will send two of the quadruplicate 96-well Matrix plates (i.e., two copies of the resource) to the NIH or to NIH-designated repositories.  The Contractor will keep the other two copies for long-term storage and distribution to researchers upon request.

Anticipated Period of Performance Start Date: June 1, 2021 – May 31, 2022

Capability statement /information sought. Respondents must provide, as part of their responses, a capability statement that clearly identifies their ability to provide the requirements specified in this notice.  The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.

Please note that the NIA is particularly interested in small business sources. If you are a small business, please state the type of small business (small business; HUBZone; service-disabled, veteran-owned; 8(a); veteran-owned; woman-owned; or small disadvantaged businesses) and your size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible.

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.

The information submitted must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.

The response is limited to ten (10) pages. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.

The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist.

Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Diedra Prophet at e-mail address [email protected].

The response must be received on or before March 05, 2021 at 12:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).