Inactive

INTRODUCTION This is a Small Business Sources Sought (SBSS) notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information reg... INTRODUCTION This is a Small Business Sources Sought (SBSS) notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification in 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. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. This notice is issued to help determine the availability and type of qualified Small Business companies technically capable of meeting this potential 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. The notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. The information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method including small business socio-economic set-aside possibilities and to determine the availability of qualified Small Business companies technically capable of meeting the Government’s potential requirement. All Small Business companies with the capability and availability to perform the requirement under the applicable NAICS code are invited to submit a response to this notice. NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE The NAICS code applicable to this requirement is 541380-Testing Laboratories with associated small business size standard of 15 Million USD. BACKGROUND The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation’s leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability, conducting, supporting and making medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is a translational science center that prides itself on its productive pipeline and is innovative in a number of ways. NCATS brings together a diverse range of scientists, including medicinal chemists, biologists, toxicologists, and engineers, in order to ultimately translate basic science into real products and services that help improve people’s lives. NCATS is interested in obtaining eligible small businesses capable of conducting small molecule target deconvolution via radiolabelled small molecule-cellular protein interactions. Target deconvolution is a key aspect of small molecule therapeutics. Many small molecule therapeutics provide a desired phenotypic response for a given disease or disease model. However, the small molecule molecular targets often remain unknown. In order to better understand the disease and the small molecule therapeutics, it is critical to discover and understand the molecular target. Target deconvolution allows for the identification of this molecular target through a variety of methods, including the use of radiolabelled small molecules. Purpose and Objectives This Small Business Sources Sought notice seeks to determine eligible sources capable of achieving the essential features of this potential requirement. The purpose of this potential requirement is to obtain contractor services to perform small molecule target deconvolution via radiolabelled small molecule-cellular protein interactions with radioactive compounds and biological tissue and provide a report on the assessment. Project Requirements This Small Business Sources Sought notice seeks responses from qualified sources that are capable of providing the following salient service requirements of this potential government requirement deemed as the essential features needing to be achieved. Specifically, Offerors to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall possess the capability to provide the following. Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below: The government will provide three target radiolabelled compounds to the contractor. In addition, the government will provide the “cold” (non-radiolabelled) compounds to the contractor. Government will have the option to provide unlabeled, inactive compound. The government will provide no more than 2000 nmoles of each radiolabelled compound and no more than 200 mg of each cold compound will be provided. Contractor will evaluate the background binding and compound suitability of the three radiolabelled compounds at two concentrations in HEK293T cells. Contractor will screen the radiolabelled compounds against a library of over 5,000 human proteins. Proteins will be in reverse transfected HEK293T cells Contractor will provide the appropriate controls to ensure the cells are transfected Contractor will image the cells for radioactivity, to observe hits Contractor will confirm any hits with cold displacement studies. Contractor will provide a comprehensive report on the results of the assessment Report will include images on the confirmation screen Report will include the names of all proteins screened Report will include all hits Contractor will be available for verbal communication regarding the results of the screen Contractor will be available via e-mail or phone concerning the progress of the project, with an update no less than every four weeks on progress. Offerors submitting a response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall possess the ability to achieve the salient government essential features identified in this notice and provide documented evidence to be able to fully achieve the characteristicis of the subject requirement described herein, including possessing the capability to work with radioactive compounds and biological tissue. Period of Performance/Level of Effort The period of performance will be effective for 6 months from the Effective Date of Contract or receipt of material to analyze. The Government anticipates 100 work hours will be required for the vendor to fully achieve this requirement. Deliverables/Reporting Requirements Deliverables will include one (1) report on the study performed, including any hits and confirmation. Contractor will provide monthly updates on the progress of the project, or more often as appropriate. Contractor will be expected to stay in e-mail or phone contact with the government representative as needed. Delivery, inspection and acceptance of any items delivered will be performed at NCATS located at 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20852. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS/INFORMATION SOUGHT Interested parties are expected to review this notice to familiarize itself with the requirements of this project. Failure to do so will be at your firm's own risk. Respondents must provide clear and convincing evidence of possessing the knowedge, skills, abilities and experience to successfully perform the requirements described in this announcement. Detailed prior experience in implementing similar requirements to the requirement described in this announcement must be clearly delineated in any response provided. Technical experience can include, but is not limited to: 1) Experience (> 5 years) in running experments in the same or similar field; 2) Access to all critical instrumentation necessary for this statement of work; 3) Capable of working with radio-active compounds and biological tissue. Respondents must provide clear and convincing documentation of their capability in providing analytical quality control and any other requirements and services specified in this notice. Respondents must provide a general overview of the respondents' opinions about the difficulty and /or feasibility of the potential requirement, and any information regarding innovative ideas or concepts. The Respondent must also provide information in sufficient detail of the respondents' (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, or other related information. 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. 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 response is limited to ten (10) pages. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, CV’s or references, if requested. The information submitted must be must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the product requirement. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. 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 and Contracting Officer. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted. Respondents must reference the announcement number on all correspondence related to this Small Business Sources Sought notice. The response must be submitted to Hunter Tjugum electronically, at hunter.tjugum@nih.gov, and be received prior to the closing date specified in this announcement. CONCLUDING STATEMENTS 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 pre-solicitation 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).