This is a Notice of Intent, not a request for quotations. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Qiagen to procure 310 kits of HotstarTaq Plus DNA Polymerase (1000) that will be used at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) during a period of 18 months from date of award.

Human lymphocytes involved in maintenance of and immune responses against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other infectious illnesses will be characterized in extensive detail by polymerase chain reaction assays and the unique pathogen receptors they express. These investigations help define how key immune cells are expanded and thus contribute to the pathogenesis and the immunologic control of these important infectious diseases.

The HotstarTaq Plus DNA Polymerase is a high-sensitivity thermal cycling RNA polymerase that is used in a novel assay VRC has developed and used to detect and sequence B cell receptor DNA from cells of infected individuals. It has been thoroughly tested and proven to amplify DNA from single cell sources in VRC custom assay. Other products were unable to reliably produce high quality results in this format. This is essential to the trial VRC plan to use it for. These high-quality results from extremely low initial levels of nucleic acid are necessary, because failure will result in the loss of highly precious materials from this clinical trial. Moreover, it is compatible with downstream PCR reactions, an important factor in determining the trial success. This reagent is also being used by VRC's collaborative site and must be identical to allow cross site comparisons. Any deviation in the formulation of these reactions will confound the results and reduce the power of the data below statistical levels of any value. This product has been shown to yield required results where others have failed. Key specifications are as follows:
• Processivity sufficient for amplification of single cell level transcript
• Compatible with other components of the assay
• Efficiency level appropriate for up and down stream processing

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 253 (c) (1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 only one responsible source and no other supply or service will satisfy agency requirements. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTES. All responsible sources that could provide comparable services may submit a capability statement that will be considered by email (subject line to reference NIAID-NOI18-1923199) to Swee L. Teo at [email protected] by 3:00pm EST, Tuesday, September 4, 2018. All responses received by the closing date of this Notice will be considered by the Government. A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.

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