In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity Testing

1.0 DESCRIPTION The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), NCI Program for Natural Product Discovery (NPNPD), Pre-Fractionated Natural Product Library (PNPL), plans to procure services, on a sole source basis, from the JMI Laboratories, 345 Beaver Kreek Centre Suite A, North Liberty, IA 52317. The response close date of the notice for this requirement is in accordance with FAR 5.203(b). This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR Part 13.106-1(b)(1)(i); and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541990 and the small business size standard is $19.5 million. It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement. 2.0 BACKGROUND The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Program for Natural Products Discovery (NPNPD) is a Cancer Moonshot-funded program for the NCI. The goal is to generate prefractionated samples for modern high-throughput screening technologies and to develop integrated analytical resources for the rapid isolation and structure elucidation of biologically active natural products. 2.1 OBJECTIVE The primary objective is to test the in vitro antimicrobial activity of 18 purified natural products identified from the NCI pre-fractionated natural product library as having potential antimicrobial activity. 3.0 SCOPE The Contractor shall provide all personnel, labor, facilities, materials, and equipment necessary to perform the required tasks described in section 4.0 below. The NCI will provide the contractor with 18 purified antimicrobial compounds for minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing which will then be tested in vitro for their ability to inhibit the growth of four selected microbial pathogens. 4.0 PURCHASE ORDER REQUIREMENTS 4.1 TASKS The NCI will send a set of 18 pure natural product compounds, derived from the 1725 initial samples, for testing. The contractor will then provide MIC data back to the NCI for each of the 18 samples tested against each of the four pathogens in duplicate. MIC data will also be provided for those compounds that show activity against any of the initial four microbial strains. Data from these samples shall be returned to NPNPD via Excel. Data analyses, timelines, and deliverables: All tests will be completed within 45'60 days of receipt of the compounds. Within 30 days of completing the laboratory studies, a preliminary dataset of MIC values in Excel format will be sent to the NCI TPOC for review. The NCI TPOC will have a 30-day review period to provide comments before the data transfer is finalized. 4.2 PROHIBITION AGAINST PERSONAL SERVICES The Contractor shall not perform personal services under this contract. Contractor personnel are employees of the Contractor or its subcontractors and are under the administrative control and supervision of the Contractor. A Contractor supervisor must give all individual Contractor employee assignments and daily work direction. The Government shall not supervise or direct Contractor employees in the performance of their assignments. If at any time the Contractor believes that any Government action or communication has been given that would create a personal service relationship between the Government and any Contractor employee, the Contractor shall promptly notify the Contracting Officer of this communication or action. The Contractor shall not perform any inherently governmental functions under this contract. No Contractor employee shall represent or give the appearance that he or she is a Government employee, agent, or representative. No Contractor employee shall state orally or in writing at any time that he or she is acting on behalf of the Government. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that all employees assigned to this contract understand and are committed to following the requirements of the Contract. 5.0 TYPE OF ORDER This is a firm fixed price purchase order. 6.0 NON-SEVERABLE SERVICES The services specified in each contract line item (CLIN) have been determined to be non-severable services - a specific undertaking or entire job with a defined end product of value to the Government. 7.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The period of performance shall be for twelve (12) months from the date of award. 8.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE All work shall be performed at the Contractor's facility. 9.0 REPORT(S)/DELIVERABLES AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE The TPOC shall review the contents of all draft deliverables. If no comments or requests for revisions are provided to the Contractor within 60 calendar days, the deliverables shall be considered acceptable. If revisions are required, NCI shall respond to the Contractor within sixty (60) calendar days of receiving the deliverable, specifying the required changes/revisions. Final copies of approved drafts shall be delivered to the NCI TPOC within thirty (30) calendar days after receipt of the Government's comments. All deliverables shall be provided electronically (Microsoft Word or Excel compatible format, unless approved by the NCI Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) per the following deliverable schedule: DELIVERABLE: Preliminary dataset of MIC values. DELIVERABLE DESCRIPTION / FORMAT REQUIREMENTS: Dataset in electronic copy easily editable and searchable (ie, Excel). DUE DATE: Within 30 calendar days of completing laboratory studies. DELIVERABLE: Antimiocrobial dataset, DELIVERABLE DESCRIPTION / FORMAT REQUIREMENTS: Dataset in electronic copy easily editable and searchable (ie, Excel). DUE DATE: Within 30 calendar days after NCI completes 30 calendar days review period to provide comments before the data transfer is finalized. 10. UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE CONTRACTOR The use of JMI Laboratories as the sole source for this order is required. The reason this is a requirement is so the data from the requested service maintains data fidelity and direct comparability to data generated from an earlier high-throughput screen, using exactly the same assay system and contractor, as used in the initial NIAID/NCI high-throughput screen. Data fidelity would be impossible if another contractor were to complete the testing, thus, making the output useless if another contractor were to perform the testing. 11. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS This notice is not a request for competitive quotations. However, if any interested party believes it can meet the above requirements, it may submit a proposal or quote for the Government to consider. The response and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. All responses and questions must be sent via email to the Contract Specialist, Holly Knott, at holly.knott@nih.gov by no later than 3:00 PM EST on July 27 2023. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. In order to receive an award, Contractors must be registered and have valid certification through SAM.gov. Reference: 75N91023Q00122 on all correspondence.