Special Notice Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Procurement The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Network Contracting Office 17, intends to award a firm-fixed priced contract/order to Becton, Dickinson and Company for procurement of the following items and services: Scope The STVHCS has a need for the Becton Dickinson (BD) Flow Reagents listed below for the use of evaluating the Immune Response on COVID positive patients. This testing is used to assign a risk category based on the immune response and then tailor treatment accordingly. The vendor will provide Becton Dickinson Flow Cytometry testing reagents/supplies to be used on the Government owned BD FACS CANTO II instrumentation for the Flow Cytometry Laboratory of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service at Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital. Due to the proprietary nature of the reagents and instrumentation no third-party reagents will satisfy this requirement. Technical Requirements: The vendor must be and Authorized distributor of the following reagents and able to provide ready to use brand name reagents that are compatible with the following Government Owned instrumentation: BD FACS Canto II The vendor must be able to provide next day delivery of the following reagents as needed: CAT. # Estimated Quantity ITEM DESCRIPTION 335775 8 BD FACS 7-Color Setup Beads 25 Tests 6629767 470 Multitest 6-color TBNK Reagent US-IVD 342003 20 BD FACS FLOW SHEATH FLUID 334224 20 BD FACS SHUTDOWN SOLUTION The vendor must be able to sequester reagent lots so that the lot numbers will be the same throughout the contract year. The reagents must be FDA approved and meet all regulatory guidelines set for by the STVHCS. The vendor must provide confirmation of order same day as order request is received. The vendor must provide tracking information and provide an estimated delivery time. The contractor is required to provide a continuously stocked inventory of Flow Cytometry reagents/supplies and any other materials required to properly perform patient testing such that Flow Cytometry Laboratory operations are not interrupted. These items shall be of the highest quality, to assure precision and accuracy. Expiration date must be clearly marked all supplies. Alert/Notification of any delays in shipment as well as any or all technical advisory/recalls/alerts, prior to or simultaneously with field alerts should be forwarded to the designated individuals determined at contract award. Special handling for emergency orders of supplies: If the supplies are found to be defective and unsuitable for use with the Flow Cytometry Laboratory equipment, or the Contractor has failed to comply with the requirements for routine supply delivery, the Contractor is required to deliver the supplies within 24 hours of receipt of a verbal order for emergency delivery. If either circumstance has occurred, the Contractor shall deliver to the Government site in the most expeditious manner possible without additional cost to the Government, the necessary consumables in sufficient quantity as required to allow operation of the Contractor s Core Laboratory equipment for one week (under normal Government test load volume). If additional requests for emergency supply delivery are required by the Government, they shall be honored by the Contractor until the arrival at the laboratory of the monthly standing order/routine supplies delivery. Location These testing reagents/supplies will be used on the BD FACS CANTO II in the Flow Cytometry laboratory located in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service s San Antonio Laboratories of the STVHCS. Period of Performance: Five one-year ordering periods Deliverables/Supplies As needed testing Reagents/Supplies used on the BD FACS CANTO II for the Flow Cytometry Laboratory. Government Inherent Functions: Contractor shall not perform inherently governmental functions. This includes, but is not limited to, determination of agency policy, determination of Federal program priorities for budget requests, direction and control of government employees, selection or non-selection of individuals for Federal Government employment including the interviewing of individuals for employment, approval of position descriptions and performance standards for Federal employees, approving any contractual documents, approval of Federal licensing actions and inspections, and/or determination of budget policy, guidance, and strategy. General Duties, Requirements, and Expectations: Be professionally competent to handle required duties. Work with staff to ensure safety measures are in place and documented. Services provided under the terms of this contract are required to be in compliance with the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), College of American Pathologists (CAP) and VHA Handbook 1106.1 Information Systems Officer, Information Protection: - The contractor will not have access to VA Desktop computers, nor will they have access to online resources belonging to the government while conducting services. If removal of equipment from the VA is required, any memory storage devices, such as hard drives, solid state drives and non-volatile memory units will remain in VA control and will not be removed from VA custody. Privacy Officer: The contractor will not have access to Patient Health Information (PHI), nor will they have the capability of accessing patient information during the services provided to the VA. Records Manager: There will be no federal records created, maintained, used, or dispositioned with this contract; regardless of format [paper, electronic, etc.] or mode of transmission [e-mail, fax, etc.]. Anticipated Period of Performance: 10 July 2022 through 30 June 2027. The proposed sole source procurement will be made by an IDIQ contract with Becton, Dickinson and Company. The requesting activity has submitted a sole source justification request that states that vendor Becton, Dickinson and Company is the only vendor that can provide the necessary required supplies and services. Market research did not find an alternate approved vendor that can provide the required supplies and services. This notice is not to be considered a request for quotations or proposals. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. Proposals or offers received will be used to determine if a comparable source is available and more advantageous to the government. If no affirmative written response is received within 5 business days from the publication of this notice, a contract will be issued to Becton, Dickinson and Company without any further notice. The anticipated statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition for the requirement is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.
