Development and Maintenance of an Aged Non-Human Primate Tissue Bank

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. BACKGROUND The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has a need for a project entitled, Development and Maintenance of an Aged Non-human Primate Tissue Bank. The purpose of the Aged Non-human Primate Tissue Bank is to provide a mechanism to archive and distribute excess tissue from non-human primates (NHP) that are being euthanized for research and humane purposes. This will provide a new research resource to many investigators and contribute to a reduction in the number of NHP needed by the research community since multiple investigators will be able to take advantage of each animal. The tissue will allow investigators to test hypotheses in a model closely related to humans by providing access to NHP tissue without the expense of obtaining and housing the animals. This is an extremely important aspect of this project, as the supply of NHP in general, and rhesus macaques in particular, is very limited. The tissues will be collected under strictly controlled protocols to ensure the integrity of the tissue. Tissue will be flash-frozen without fixation or fixed and embedded, to fit the needs of a wide-range of molecular and histochemical techniques. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES The objective of the Aged Non-human Primate Tissue Bank is to acquire, archive and distribute excess tissue from NHP that are being euthanized for research purposes at institutions around the country. Tissue will be both flash-frozen without fixation or fixed and embedded, to fit the needs of a wide-range of molecular and histochemical techniques. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS This will be a one (1) year plus four (4) option years, cost reimbursement contract under which the Contractor shall receive NHP tissue from a variety of institutions around the country, solicit tissue from sources identified by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR), solicit tissue from sources identified by their own interactions with the research community upon approval of the source by the COR, coordinate the transfer of the tissue to the Contractor's facility, process and aliquot the tissue for preservation as needed, preserve the tissue and embed as needed, package, label and store the tissue, prepare a detailed inventory of the tissue, and ship tissue to investigators at the direction of the COR. REPORTS/DELIVERABLES (1) An inventory up-date shall be provided to the NIA after each shipment or addition of tissues, or weekly at most. (2) Semi-annual progress reports shall be delivered within thirty (30) calendar days of the end of the period covered by the report. Progress reports shall detail the species, gender, and ages of animals from which tissue was received for banking, the number of samples of each tissue type received from each animal, the number of orders filled listed by institution, and the number of each tissue type delivered. (3) A final report shall be submitted on or before the expiration date of the contract. The final report shall include a summation of the work performed under the entire contract period of performance, including number of tissue collected and number of tissues shipped to investigators. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The anticipated period of performance is five 12-month performance years from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2018. OTHER IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS The government is expected to use procedures in FAR Part 15, Contracting by Negotiations. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541990 with a size standard of $14 million. CAPABILITY STATEMENT/INFORMATION SOUGHT a. Capability Statement - Respondents to this notice must provide, as part of their response, a capability statement to include the following: (1) information regarding the respondents' (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training related to the scope of this requirement; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and, (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information; (2) respondents' DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code; and, (3) any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the OPDIV's acquisition requirement. b. Information Submission Instructions - Respondents should provide responses accordingly: (1) submit information both electronically and by mail. No telephone or facsimile responses will be accepted; (2) format capability statements using Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF including attachments, resumes, charts, etc. Use single space, 12 font minimum and 8 - x 11 size paper; (3) organize material in such a manner that clearly identifies and addresses capability requirements and provide an executive summary; (4) capability statement should not exceed ten (10) single sided pages including references; (5) respondents must send two original copies via mail and one electronic copy via email; (6) RESPONSES SHOULD BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN September 17, 2012 at 12:00 PM LOCAL TIME; (7) include respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses; and (8) send responses to this notice via email to wilsonr@mail.nih.gov. The original statements mailed using the U.S. Postal Service should be sent to ATTN: Rosanne Wilson, National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisitions - NIDA Neuroscience COAC, NIA R&D Contracts Management Section, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8154, MSC 9661, Bethesda, MD 20892-9661. If using a courier service such as the UPS, Federal Express, etc., change the City, State and Zip Code to Rockville, MD 20852. (Please be aware that the U.S. Postal Service's "Express Mail" DOES NOT deliver to the Rockville, Maryland address.) 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).