This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR 13.106-1 (b)(2) and 13.501-(a)(1) using simplified acquisition procedures for commercial acquisitions. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541380 and the employee size standard is $14 Million.

Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation. This will be awarded as a firm fixed price type contract/IDIQ.

It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement.

Period of Performance will be for a period of five (5) years from award date.

The Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) conducts research to identify groups at high risk of cancer, clarify the natural history of various cancers, understand the interactive effects of genetic and environmental factors on cancer risk, and elucidate biologic mechanisms of carcinogenesis. The HREB focuses on high-quality, high-impact research on hormonally-related cancers and cancers of the reproductive system: breast, endometrium, ovary, cervix, prostate and testis. The HREB also seeks to understand the epidemiology of a number of other malignancies, some of which are hormonally influenced. These include cancers of the liver and bladder, and esophageal adenocarcinomas. The branch's research is predicated on rigorous epidemiologic approaches, with integration of state-of-the-art methods for defining exposures of interest.

Contractor Requirements:

The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

1. Conduct hormone assays in samples
2. Provide an interim report
3. Provide final report in an accessible format (such as .xlsx, .dta, or .csv) no later than 12 months from the date of the award.

Government Responsibilities:

The Government shall:
1. Ship serum samples with a separate identification number to the Contractor at the same time on dry ice from Frederick, Maryland, USA. All biological materials provided by the U.S. Government and all data generated shall be the property of the U.S. Government.
2. Provide the Contractor with information as to which samples should be analyzed in which batch and in which order.
3. The Government Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) shall examine the interim report.
4. Upon receipt of the second and final deliverable from the Contractor, the Government COR shall examine the received data.

Reporting and Deliverables:

Two weeks after initiating the analysis of serum samples the Contractor shall provide the government with an interim report of results in the form of an email. This report shall include information on the results to date. The second and last deliverable is the final dataset. This data shall be delivered by email to the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) in an accessible format such as xlsx, .dta, or .csv

Inspection and Acceptance:

The interim report and final data will each be examined and approved by the COR at the time they are received. The criteria for acceptance include high quality data, that is intra- and inter-assay CVs are each less than 20%.

The Université Laval is the only known laboratory capable of determining levels of testosterone, estradiol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and estrone sulfate in a small amount of serum (200 µL) that can quantitate using gold standard technologies based on previous studies conducted by NCI. The HREB intends to directly compare these new results with previous study that was also conducted at the Université Laval's laboratory. In order to eliminate lab-to-lab variability, the best use of the government funds would be to conduct this second analysis at the same laboratory. This will provide additional confidence in comparing hormone values across datasets.

This notice is not a request for competitive quotation. However, if any interested party, especially small business believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a proposal or quote for the Government to consider. The response and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. Responses must be received in the contracting office by 11 AM EST, on July 17, 2015. All responses and questions must be in writing and faxed to
240-276-5399 or emailed to Reyes Rodriguez, Contracting Specialist via electronic mail at [email protected]. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. No collect calls will be accepted. In order to receive an award, contractors must be registered and have valid certification in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) through sam.gov. Reference: N02CP52590-57 on all correspondence.