66 -- Blood Product

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Part 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is issued as a Request for Quotes; RFQ6025. This RFQ is not a small business set aside. This acquisition will be processed under Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this acquisition is 325998 and the small-business size is 500. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is soliciting quotations from offerors to acquire suitable Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) to be use in tissue culture for the production and evaluation of numerous viruses. The objective is to ensure that viral vaccine candidates produce in tissue culture containing FBS are safe for the eventual administration to humans. The contractor shall provide a lot of four hundred (250) bottles of five hundred (500) ml each of traceable United State origin serum to be close system collected at least three times 0.1um filtered and then pooled prior to bottling. It must be non-irradiated and non-heat treated, bacterial, fungal and mycoplasma contamination must be below 15mg/dl and it must be bovine virus panel tested negative. Two (2) or more lots must be available for testing in the labs assays for selection of a good lot. If initial tested lots do not prove to be adequate for the labs assay and growth requirements, additional 250 bottles of FBS. FBS is both a critical and widely variable component, which is added to media for supporting the growth of cells and viruses in the laboratory. Due to variations in the source, collection and processing FBS lots vary widely within companies and between companies. That means each lot must be tested individually to check for the necessary characteristics for the laboratory requirements. It is critical that a large amount of serum is purchased from a single lot to maintain the reproducibility of research experiments and avoid variations caused by variability between lots. The following FAR provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Item; FAR 52.212.3 Offerors Representations and Certifications Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-4 Contractor Terms and Conditions Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Items; and FAR 52.204-7 Central Contractor Registration (CCR). The Government intends to select the offer that represents the best value to the Government, price and all other factors considered. In order to be considered for an award, offeror must have completed the online electronic Representatives and Certifications located at (http://orca.bpn.gov/) in accordance with FAR 4.1201(a). By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the CCR at (www.ccr.gov/) prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. Offers must be submitted no later than 5:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), March 15, 2006 to Mrs. Tawana Parker. Copies of the aforementioned clauses are available upon request by telephone to Mrs. Tawana Parker at (301) 594-3419. For deliver through the Postal Service, the address is NIH/NIAID/AMOB, 10401 Fernwood Drive, Room 2NE70G, Bethesda MD 20892-4811. Electronic transmissions will not be accepted. Requests for information concerning this requirement are to be addressed to Mrs. Tawana Parker. Collect calls will not be accepted. All responsible sources may submit an offer that will be considered by this agency.