Goat Assay Kits

INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support and Simplified Acquisitions (SSSA) Branch intends to solicit by confirming a written quotation from Life Technologies for award on or around August 25, 2015. The purpose of this purchase order will be to provide the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) with Goat Assay Kits as described in this notice. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE and SET ASIDE STATUS The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 325413 with a Size Standard of 500 employees. This acquisition is NOT set aside for small businesses. REGULATORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6-Competition Requirements. FAR Subpart 13.106-1 (b) Soliciting from a single source provides that: For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, Contracting officers may solicit from one source IF the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name OR industrial mobilization). The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-83 dated August 3, 2015. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT Objective The request is to purchase biochemical nuclear receptor assays in TR-FRET coactivator or TR-FRET competitive assay formats for constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), liver X receptor alpha (LXR alpha), pregnane X receptor (PXR), farnesoid X receptor (FXR), and androgen receptor (AR). The LanthaScreen TR-FRET FXR Coactivator Assay Kit was previously used to study mode of action of FXR-active Tox21 chemicals in the attached publication entitled "Quantitative Profiling of Environmental Chemicals and Drugs that Modulate Farnesoid X Receptor." We further extended and evaluated the TR-FRET assay format for other Tox21-relevant nuclear receptors including CAR, LXR alpha, PXR, and AR. To enable mode of action studies of over 1000 FXR-active, CAR-active, and AR-active Tox21 chemicals in the same biochemical TR-FRET assay formats, NCATS requires ten kits of each aforementioned TR-FRET biochemical nuclear receptor assay. Requirements The contractor shall provide ten (10) each biochemical nuclear receptor assay kits in TR-FRET coactivator or TR-FRET competitive assay formats for the following receptors: - constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) - liver X receptor alpha (LXR alpha) - pregnane X receptor (PXR) - farnesoid X receptor (FXR) - androgen receptor (AR) The assay kits must enable quantification of receptor binding and/or coactivator recruitment by time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) between a donor-labeled antibody binding to the receptor protein of interest and an acceptor-labeled coactivator protein associating with the activated receptor. Due to the nature of the research, these assay products must (1) be biochemical nuclear receptor assays and (2) use TR-FRET coactivator or competitive assay format. Delivery Date Within 6 weeks of award Place of Performance All kits must be delivered to the following location for inspection and acceptance: 9800 Medical Center Drive Rockville, Maryland 20850 CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted. Specifically, Life Technologies is the only vendor in the marketplace that can provide the products required by NCATS. To ensure consistency of research results, TR-FRET-based biochemical nuclear receptor assays are required. These assay products are unique and critical to the need because 1) the products are biochemical nuclear receptor assays and 2) the products use TR-FRET coactivator or competitive assay format. In accordance with FAR part 10, extensive market research was conducted to reach this determination. Specifically, a sources sought notice was posted to FedBizOpps referencing the above detailed requirements and no responses were received from other vendors. Additionally, contacts with knowledgeable individuals both in industry and Government, as well as reviews of available product literature, revealed no other sources. Finally, a review of the GSA Advantage, Dynamic Small Business Search, and previous government acquisitions returned no results that meet all of the requirements. Therefore, only Life Technologies is capable of meeting the needs of this requirement. The intended source is: Life Technologies 3175 Staley Rd Grand Island, NY 17072-2090 CLOSING STATEMENT THIS SYNOPSIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number, HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-NOI-15-718. Responses must be submitted electronically to Matthew Antonini, Contract Specialist, at contact@example.gov. U.S. Mail and Fax responses will not be accepted.