This notice of intent, not a request for a proposal. A solicitation document will not be issued and proposals will not be requested. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Office of Acquisitions-Neurosciences, Station Support/Simplified Acquisition, on behalf of the National Institute on Aging (NIA)-Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience (LBN), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a noncompetitive basis to King's College London-Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom to perform metabolomics analyses for discovery of blood based biomarkers predictive of longitudinal changes in brain volumes and memory in non-demented elderly. The identification of such biomarkers in asymptomatic older individuals is critical for the development of disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) targeting brain atrophy and memory decline. The Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience (LBN) is to enhance NIA understanding of age-associated physical and biological changes in health and disease. NIA investigate structural and functional brain changes and how they are related to age-associated changes in cognition, and factors that modify cognitive and brain aging. The experiment will be performed on 390 plasma samples (130 individual participants at three discrete time points). The main aim is to discover small molecule metabolite signatures in plasma associated with trajectories of cognitive decline and brain atrophy in non-demented older individuals.

The period of performance for this project is 18 months.

King's College London-Institute of Psychiatry is the only known source that performs metabolism analyses on plasma samples. King's College London-Institute of Psychiatry has a team that has already carried out prior studies using proteomic analyses of plasma samples. The results and samples from these previous studies form the basis of the proposed experiments.

The acquisition is being conducted under simplified acquisition using FAR Part 12 procedures and is exempt from the requirement of FAR Part 6, Competition Requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this synopsis. The determination by the Government not to compete the proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely with the discretion of the Government.

Comments to this announcement, referencing synopsis number 2613018 may be submitted to the NIDA, Station Support/Simplified Acquisition Branch, 31 Center Drive, Room 1B59, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2080 and Attention: Jasmine Snoddy, Contract Specialist or email at [email protected].

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