Inactive

Sources Sought Announcement Title: FLUOROSPOT PLUS MONKEY IFN-y 550 ASSAY PLATES ID: SS-NIAID-24-2224951 Post Date: June 4, 2024 Response Date: June 11, 2024 NAICS: 325414 Introduction This is a Sourc... Sources Sought Announcement Title: FLUOROSPOT PLUS MONKEY IFN-y 550 ASSAY PLATES ID: SS-NIAID-24-2224951 Post Date: June 4, 2024 Response Date: June 11, 2024 NAICS: 325414 Introduction This is a Sources Sought Notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. Background, Purpose, Objectives The Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was established to facilitate research in vaccine development. The Vaccine Immunology Program (VIP) aids the VRC by supporting the development of monoclonal antibodies and vaccines for infectious diseases such as HIV, Influenza, Ebola, and more recently SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus. Support is through the state-of-the-art laboratory performing pre-clinical as well as Phase 1 and Phase 3 clinical end point testing to inform further study designs, research questions and vaccine modification and design. As part of a broader strategy to determine the immune responses to infection and vaccination, VIP requires high-throughput technology to evaluate T-cell responses at high specificity and resolution. The purpose of the procurement is for the vendor to provide a Fluorospot IFNy assay plates made by Mabtech Inc. The VIP already has a Mabtech reader for which only these types of plates are suitable. The objective is to supply the reader for the VIP to perform the assay testing in support of clinical trial end point testing using 60 x 10-plate kit of Fluorospot Plus, Monkey IFNy-550 assay plates. Vaccine Immunology Program requires the procurement of the following biological supplies: FLUOROSPOT PLUS MONKEY IFN-y (550) ** 60 x 10-plate kit Catalog # FSP-21B-10 QTY 60 EA As the threat of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses continues in the international community, the need for a comprehensive understanding of the humoral immune response in response to vaccination and infection is a health care priority. To assist in this effort, the VRC-VIP will use the Mabtech Fluorospot technology. The VRC-VIP previously identified and has used this assay system as it is unique in its capacity to perform multi-color T-cell analysis with automated, reliable quantitation (i.e. RAWspot technology employing auto-detection and fixed angle image acquistion) and CFR-21 part 11 compliance. The VRC-VIP will use these IFNy detection kits to profile immune responses against vaccine candidates in high-throughput. Project Requirements Successful offerors must have the knowledge, skill, ability, and resources to reliably provide a brand name or equal to MABTECH FLUOROSPOT PLUS MONKEY IFNy-550, 60 x 10-plate kits. Note, these kits must be compatible with MABTECH Reader systems. Minimum requirements of these types of plate kits to be used on these MABTECH reader systems can be found at https://www.mabtech.com/products/fluorospot-plus-monkey-ifn-g-550-fsp-21b. This FluoroSpot Plus kit is intended for the enumeration of cells secreting monkey IFN-? using the FluoroSpot assay for use in research. This kit is based on a matched pair of mAbs enabling specific detection of IFN-? from non-human primates (NHP). The mAbs react with human IFN-? and cross-react with IFN-? from NHP. Interferon-? (IFN-?) is the only type II interferon. This proinflammatory cytokine is secreted by activated T cells and NK cells. It activates macrophages and endothelial cells and regulates immune responses by affecting APCs, T cells, and B cells. Production of IFN-? by helper T cells and cytotoxic T cells is a hallmark of the Th1-type phenotype. Thus, high-level production of IFN-? is typically associated with effective host defense against intracellular pathogens. Interferon-? (IFN-?) is the only type II interferon. This proinflammatory cytokine is secreted by activated T cells and NK cells. It activates macrophages and endothelial cells and regulates immune responses by affecting APCs, T cells, and B cells. Production of IFN-? by helper T cells and cytotoxic T cells is a hallmark of the Th1-type phenotype. Thus, high-level production of IFN-? is typically associated with effective host defense against intracellular pathogens. Interferon-? (IFN-?) is the only type II interferon. The Government anticipates awarding a firm fixed price purchase order, after solicitation for this requirement. Date of Delivery: 30 days from ARO Place of Delivery Gaithersburg, MD 20878 Capability Statement/Information Sought All capable vendors should respond with a brief capability statement by June 11, 2024 at 5:00 PM EST. The capability statement must include the ability to provide the required brand name or equal products, as per specifications, and that are compatible with the Mabtech reader system. Capability statement must include place of manufacturer as per Executive Order 14005-Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America's Workers. “Buy America” or “Buy American,” that require, or provide a preference for, the purchase or acquisition of goods, products, or materials produced in the United States, including iron, steel, and manufactured goods offered in the United States”. If your organization has the potential capacity to support this requirement, please provide the following information: 1) organization name, address, point of contact, email address, website address, telephone number, UEI number and size and type of ownership for the organization; and 2) respondents shall indicate if they are the manufacturer or the distributor of the 60 x 10-plate kit of FluoroSpot Plus, Monkey IFNy plates and shall include basic information on product specifications. If an equal product is recommended (not specific to the brand proposed) then sufficient details shall be provided by the respondent describing how the equal product being recommended, meets the minimum specifications of the requirement. Capability statements should also include documentation indicating that offerors business size as determined by the Small Business Administration’s Table of Size Standards located at: (https://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-size-standards) for NAICS 325414. This SBA size standard is currently 1250 employees but is subject to change. Prospective offerors may also note whether they meet any other socio-economic business categories such as 8(a), Hub-Zone, or Service-Disabled Veteran when submitting their capability statement. Submission Instructions Interested businesses who consider themselves qualified to provide the above-listed items are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by June 11, 2024 at 5:00 PM EST. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted via email to Dana Monroe at dana.monroe@nih.gov. Offers shall include the Sources Sought number in the subject line (SS-NIAID-24-2224951). All responses received by the closing date of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. 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).