Inactive

COMPETITIVE COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION Title: HANDLS Longitudinal Homocysteine Assays (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in ... COMPETITIVE COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION Title: HANDLS Longitudinal Homocysteine Assays (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) The solicitation number is 75N95022Q00357 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2020-07, with an effective date of August 10, 2022. (iv) The associated NAICS code 621511 and the small business size standard is $36.5M. This requirement is full and open with no set-aside restrictions. (v) This requirement is for the following laboratory testing services: Assaying homocysteine in frozen blood samples. (vi) The objective of this requirement is to acquire the services of an established laboratory with a CLIA-approved method for assaying homocysteine in frozen blood samples. Please see attached Statement of Work and Evaluation Criteria documents for more information. (vii) The Government anticipates award of a firm-fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated period of performance is September 2022 through August 2023. (viii) The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of provision) The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Nov 2021) FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Nov 2021) HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015) The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of clause) The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020) FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items (Nov 2021). Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached. HHSAR 352.239-74, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (December 18, 2015) The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text. Offerors MUST complete the provisions at 52.204-24 and 52.204-26 and submit completed copies as separate documents with their proposal. FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021) FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020) FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders--Commercial Items (Jan 2022) NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (Feb 2021) (ix) The Government will evaluate quotations or offers in accordance with FAR 13.106-2 and award a purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be the most advantageous to the Government price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate quotes: Please reference the attached document entitled, “Evaluation Criteria 75N95022Q00357”. Technical and past performance, when combined, are (1) significantly more important than cost or price. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. (x) The Offerors to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Nov 2021), with its offer. If the offeror has completed FAR clause 52.212-3 at www.sam.gov, then the offeror does not need to provide a completed copy with its offer. (xi) The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (Nov 2021), applies to this acquisition. Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached. (xii) The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions as determined by the contracting officer are necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices. There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition. (xiii) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. (xiv) Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror’s capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. If applicable, the price quotation, must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount. At a minimum, the price quotation must contain a price per frozen blood sample to perform the requested assay. The Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All quotations must be received by 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, on Wednesdy, September 14, 2022, and reference solicitation number 75N95022Q00357. Responses must be submitted electronically to Renee Dougherty, Contracting Officer, at renee.dougherty@nih.gov. Fax responses will not be accepted.

Inactive

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the avai... This is a Small Business Sources Sought 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 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 of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the 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. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. Background: The Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study examines changes in health associated with disparities due to race and socioeconomic status. Presently in the 7th wave of data collection, HANDLS established a longitudinal biomaterials bank of frozen blood serum and plasma for which participants have consented to further biological study in every wave in which they were examined. HANDLS has accumulated sufficient frozen samples to adequately address questions surrounding issues in health disparities associated with total homocysteine levels. These questions include, but are not limited to, examining changes over time in homocysteine levels by age, sex, race, poverty status, and their interactions; examining whether the relationships among B12, folate, and homocysteine levels are consistent regardless of age, sex, race, and poverty status; examining whether the risk for cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, myocardial infarction, and stenotic blood vessels are associated with homocysteine regardless of age, sex, race, and poverty status; and examining the association of homocysteine with existing measures of neurological and brain health. The objective of this requirement is to acquire the services of an established laboratory with a CLIA-approved method for assaying homocysteine in frozen blood samples. To avoid introducing biases in these assay levels, it is crucial to assay all the samples from all the waves using the same methodology and the same time. This avoids contaminating the data with "batch" effects in which there are statistical differences due to the assay method but not due to actual changes over time or due to differences to participants' demographic backgrounds. Purpose and Objectives: Homocysteine is an intermediate metabolite produced by several physiological biochemical pathways. Homocysteine is a known toxic metabolite, particularly in the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Elevated levels of total homocysteine have been implicated as a significant risk for cardiovascular disease. There is also accumulating evidence that elevated total homocysteine is associated with accelerated age-associated cognitive decline and perhaps as a risk for Alzheimer’s disease. There is also evidence that elevated total homocysteine is associated with neuropathies in older adults. It is known that men have generally greater homocysteine levels than women. It is also known that homocysteine increases with age in older adults. However, it is not known whether there are differences in homocysteine levels by age, sex, race, poverty status, and their interactions. Health disparities in cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline may be associated with differences in homocysteine levels over time. Inadequate homocysteine metabolism is usually due to insufficient consumption of folate and B12. Fortunately, most causes of hyperhomocysteinemia are treatable by administering folate and B12 vitamin supplementation. However, it is unclear whether treatment is sufficiently adequate for everyone regardless of age, sex, race, or socioeconomic status. Project requirements: 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: A CLIA-approved clinical laboratory shall perform homocysteine assays on frozen blood provided by the Government. The Contractor must have experience performing homocysteine assays on frozen blood samples, and demonstrate consistency and accuracy in their assay by methods such as reference samples and repeated assays on the same samples. Based on statistical considerations, the Government has determined that 2,500 samples are required to perform the purposes of this solicitation. This number of samples is based on considerations of statistical power for the envisioned longitudinal analyses. GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES The Government will supply frozen blood samples in sufficient quantity and in a manner mutually acceptable to the Contractor that is consistent with Federal requirements for shipment of biomaterials. DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES The Contractor shall provide homocysteine values for all samples provided by the Government in an electronic file. In addition, the Contractor shall supply technical details demonstrating reliability and accuracy of the homocysteine assays performed including information on quality controls as well as information on methods to use in future publications. Following electronic data delivery and upon request by the Government, the Contractor shall participate in Government laboratory meetings to provide technical consultations as needed regarding the delivered data. The Contractor shall also return any remaining sample material to the Government that is consistent with Federal requirements for shipment of biomaterials. Anticipated period of performance: September 1, 2022 – August 31, 2023 Capability statement /information sought. Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Capability statements must also include the Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. Interested companies are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number. 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 information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. The response is limited to ten (10) page limit. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested. All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted. The response must be submitted to Renee Dougherty, Contracting Officer, at e-mail address Renee.Dougherty@nih.gov and Karen Mahon, Contracting Officer, at e-mail address Karen.Mahon@nih.gov. The response must be received on or before July 15, 2022, 10:00 am Eastern Time. “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 presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in www.sam.gov. 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).”