H -- Animal Housing, Maintenance and Testing Services

This is a combined synopsis/notice of intent for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the onlysolicitation; quotes are not being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This requirement is being issued as a Notice of Intent under NOI6094. This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 05-12. This acquisition will be processed under Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) and is a small business set-aside. The switching to any other contractor other than Bioqual would result in significant time delay of service and additional cost to the government. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541710 and the Small Business Size Standard is 500. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) intends to procure animal services for influenza studies including housing and maintenance involving ferrets using Simplified Acquisition Procedures with Bioqual, Inc. At this time Bioqual is the only BSL2 housing facility within the 20 mile radius of the NIH in Bethesda, MD. The Contractor shall furnish the necessary management oversight and personnel for the performance of laboratory animal support services. The contractor will provide husbandry and technical support services required for the proper care, use and humane treatment of NIAID-owned laboratory animals in their respective contract facility. Required services include: standard animal husbandry, animal health technical services, data management and various immunological assays. Support is to be provided for influenza studies involving ferrets. The Contractor shall be authorized to conduct Biosafety level 2 agent in a facility that is engineered for BSL2 studies. Support shall be provided for Animal Study ?Development of an ferret animal model and evaluation of vaccine strategies for influenza virus.? All contract activities shall be responsive to the NIAID research requirements and comply with Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, Int. accreditation standards. Location of Contractors BSL2- capable facility owned or leased by Contractor shall be within a 20 miles radius of the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD campus. Contractor shall provide high quality animal care and housing, providing feed, water and clean caging. Animal handling, restraint, technical laboratory animal procedures, animal identification, administration of drugs and routine treatments, euthanasia, immunological and molecular biology assays. Veterinary medical services, treatments/medications, investigator interaction, training and support of facility and research staff, protocol review, induction of anesthesia and surgical procedures. Conducting BSL2 studies in a certified BSL2 facility. Housing and care of 35 ferrets for a period up to 14 weeks. The FOB Point shall be Destination, Bethesda, MD 20892. The government will award a firm fixed price purchase order to the responsible contractor. All responses will be considered by the agency. FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items; Offerors must include with their offer a completed copy of the Provision FAR 52.212.3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items; FAR 52.212.4 Contract Terms and Conditions of Commercial Items; FAR 52.212.5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes of Executive Orders- Commercial Items. To be considered for an award, offeror must have completed the online electronic Representations and Certifications located at http://orca.bpn.gov/. By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the CCR at: www.ccrgov/ 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. Copies of the aforementioned clauses are available upon request by telephone to Ms. Sheila Watterson at (301) 402-2282. All responsible sources may submit offer that will be considered by this Agency. Offers must be submitted no later than 5:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time on September 2, 2006. For delivery through the Postal Service, the address is NIH/NIAID/AMOB, 10401 Fernwood Drive Room 2NE38B, Bethesda, Maryland 20817-4811. Electronic transmission will not be accepted. Request for information concerning this requirement are to be addressed to Ms. Sheila Watterson at (301) 402-2282. Collect calls will not be accepted.