INTRODUCTION

This is a pre-solicitation non-competitive (notice of intent) synopsis to award a contract without providing for full or open competition (including brand-name). THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT, NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. A SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED AND PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE REQUESTED.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Consolidated Station Support and Simplified Acquisitions (CSS/SA) Branch intends to negotiate and award a purchase order to Med Associates for rat operant chambers without providing for full and open competition (including brand-name).

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 334515 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) 05-83 dated July 2, 2015.

This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13.5—Test Program for Certain Commercial Items and FAR subpart 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items at an amount exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($150,000) and not exceeding $6.5 million.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c) under provisions of the statutory authority of FAR Subpart 6.302- [specify the applicable authority: (1) FAR 6.302-1—Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1).

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

Purpose and Objectives

Drug self-administration in animals is a behavioral paradigm that that can be used to model patterns of drug intake, abuse, and addiction development in humans. This behavioral paradigm will be implemented alongside other assays and imaging modalities in both mice and rats.  This acquisition is required to ensure high quality performance in evaluating the contribution of discrete neurochemical mechanisms in vulnerability and development of addictive behaviors.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES:

This purpose of this acquisition is to provide 16 rat operant chambers from Med Associates that are equipped for both drug and food self-administration experiments. These will be utilized for examining behaviors relating to the self-administration behavior of natural stimuli (e.g. food pellets) as well as a variety of psychoactive substances.

Project Requirements

These operant chambers are specially designed to interface with the MED-PC IV and are the only chambers available that are compatible with this software. Additionally, Med Associates, Inc. is the sole manufacturer and supplier of this equipment. The following items and quantities are needed for full chamber set-up:

16.000 EA ENV-018MD Extra Tall MDF Sound Attenuating Cubicle Interior: 22"W x 22"H x 16"D

16.000 EA ENV-007CT-PH Extra Tall Modular Test Chamber with Modified Top, IR Beam Modification

16.000 EA ENV-005 Stainless Steel Grid Floor for Rat or Small Primate

32.000 EA ENV-229M Stimulus Light, 1" LED

16.000 EA ENV-215M House Light, Hooded, 100 ma, 28 V DC

32.000 EA ENV-112CM Retractable Lever

16.000 EA ENV-203M-45 Modular Pellet Dispenser for Rat, 45 mg

16.000 EA ENV-200R2M-6.0  Pellet Receptacle, Trough Type with Extra Tall 6" Opening

16.000 EA ENV-254-CB Head Entry Detector for Rat

16.000 EA DIG-716P2 SmartCtrl 8 Input, / 16 Output Package

16.000 EA PHM-107 Variable Infusion Rate Syringe Pump 99 Speeds

16.000 EA PHM-VAH95AB Vascular Access Harness™, Rat

16.000 EA PHM-KVAH95T/MED VAH™ Tether Kit for Rat

16.000 EA PHM-110-SAI Drug Delivery Arm Assembly with 3/8" ID Gimbal Ring

1.000   EA SG-6510D Large Tabletop Cabinet and Power Supply 120V 60 Hz

1.000   EA DIG-700P2-R2 PCI Interface Package, Full Height

1.000 EA SOF-700RA-10 Drug Self Infusion Utility

64.000 EA ENV-253SD Individual IR Source and Detector

16.000 EA ENV-253 4 Channel IR Controller

1.000 EA COM-104 Med Intel i3 3.0Ghz 3MB, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, 24x DVD, Win7 32bit, 19" Mont

1.000 EA SHIPPING - Shipping Charges

Delivery time

Delivery shall occur 90 days from notice of award.

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. Specifically, the The laboratory needs to acquire rat operant chambers that are compatible with existing laboratory software: MED-PC IV Research Control and Data Acquisition Software. This equipment is specially designed to interface with the MED-PC IV software and no other rat operant chambers are compatible with this particular software. Additionally, in order to maintain scientific continuity of ongoing experiments and for statistical validity when comparing future results to that of data acquired in prior experiments, it is necessary to have the same rat operant chambers that NIDA IRP currently utilizes in their laboratories. Med Associates, Inc. is the sole manufacturer and supplier of this equipmentThe intended source is:

Med Associates, Inc

P.O. Box 319

St. Albans VT 05478

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 the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number.  Responses may be submitted electronically to Farrin Stanton, Contract Specialist, at [email protected]. US Mail and Fax responses will not be accepted.