Inactive

NON-COMPETITIVE (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 no... NON-COMPETITIVE (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 75N95024Q00371 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. THIS IS A NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) COMBINED SYNOPSIS SOLICITATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NIDA Office of Acquisitions – National Institute on Aging (NIA) Section, on behalf of the NIA intends to negotiate and award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition to GOTEBORGS UNIVERSITET (University of Gothenburg), VASAPARKEN, GOTEBORG, SWEDEN for the purchase of Testing associations between whole blood hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) levels and blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration. This acquisition is non-competitive. The plasma assays of neurodegeneration should be performed in a laboratory overseen by expert researchers who are knowledgeable in the techniques of multiplex biomarker assays applied to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The Institute of Clinical Neuroscience (ICN) at the GOTEBORGS UNIVERSITET (University of Gothenburg) is a world leader in the development of novel biomarker assays for neurodegeneration and AD. The principal investigators at ICN are Drs. Zetterberg, Blennow and Ashton. They have pioneered several innovative approaches in this area of research including the development of novel AD biomarkers. (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2024-04, with effective date May 22, 2024. (iv) The associated NAICS code is 541380 and the small business size standard is $19.0 million. This requirement has no set-aside restrictions. (v) This requirement is for the following services: Testing associations between whole blood hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) levels and blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration. (vi) 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 as per the requirement of the Statement of Work (SOW) (attached). (vii) The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order. The anticipated period of performance: 9/30/2024 - 9/29/2025. (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 52.204-29, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders – Representation and Disclosures (Dec 2023) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sep 2023) FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Feb 2024) 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 Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2023). Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached. HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015) 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 (FAR 52.204-24 and FAR 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 Products and Commercial Services (May 2024) NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (ix) The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items (Nov 2021), applies to this acquisition. (a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) technical capability of the services offered to meet the Government requirement (1. Expertise in multiplex blood biomarker analyses relevant to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases documented by peer-reviewed publications. 2. Expertise in cross-platform validation of blood biomarkers relevant to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and/or other neurodegenerative diseases.); (ii) past performance [FAR clause 13.106-2(b)(3)]; and (iii) price. Technical and past performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price. (b) 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) Offerors must include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Feb 2024), 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 Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. (xii) 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. The price proposal 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. 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 submitted electronically (by email) to Fred Ettehadieh, Contracting Officer, at Fred.Ettehadieh@nih.gov by the closing date and time of this solicitation, and reference Solicitation number 75N95024Q00371. 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 and Objectives: Research in the National Institute on Aging has identified several FDA approved drugs through the DREAM study that may target metabolic abnormalities associated with AD and be of utility as effective disease-modifying AD treatments. Repurposing of approved drugs is a promising approach that can accelerate the development of novel AD treatments. Through the Drug Repurposing for Effective Alzheimer’s Medicines (DREAM) study, the NIA IRP identified that the HCQ administered to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) lowers the risk of incident AD. Further experimental validation of these findings has been completed in cell culture-based phenotypic assays as well as in studies of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the APP/PS1 transgenic mouse model. In results from the Experimental Validation of candidate Alzheimer’s disease treatments identified by multi-omics analyses (PREVENT-AD) study, we have shown that HCQ may reduce levels of plasma neurofilament-light (NfL), a peripheral biomarker of neurodegeneration. In patients administered HCQ, whole blood levels of the drug vary widely and it is unclear whether alterations in blood HCQ concentrations are associated with blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration in humans. This acquisition has the following objective: 1) To test whether changes in whole blood levels of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) are associated with alterations in plasma concentrations of blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration in a well-characterized cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus SLE. 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. The objectives of the requirements are: Testing associations between whole blood hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) levels and blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration Perform assays on plasma samples provided by the NIA IRP using the NULISASeq CNS disease panel to measure 120 biomarkers related to neurodegeneration. 150 microliters each of banked plasma will be provided from 163 unique lupus patients from the Johns Hopkins Lupus cohort (PI; Dr. Michelle Petri). A total of 460 plasma samples will be provided. Anticipated period of performance: September 30, 2024 – September 29, 2025. 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 by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Small businesses must also provide their Company Name, Unique Entity ID (UEI) from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. Interested small businesses are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System 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, 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 an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirements 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) pages. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested. All capability statements sent in response to this Small Business Sources Sought Notice must be submitted to Fred Ettehadieh, Contracting Officer, by email at fred.ettehadieh@nih.gov before the closing date and time of this announcement. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. Facsimile responses are not acceptable. “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 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).”