Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) - Reference laboratory and pathology services

The purpose and function of the Indian Health Service (IHS) is to provide comprehensive health care services to American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) through the IHS hospital and clinic system. The HIS requires laboratory analyzer testing kits/reagents, and the associated support and service agreements in order to effectively test COVID-19 specimens, other samples and cultures. Cepheid has been identified as a manufacturer and supplier of Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization (FDA EUA) equipment and testing kits that are compatible with the IHS's varied CLIA statuses for laboratory facilities. The IHS hereby submits a notice of intent to award a sole source Portland Area Office Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract to CEPHEID (DUNS: 956711444) (SAM Unique Entity ID) W6HQTMWB9Q28 to assist in satisfying this ongoing requirement. This effort is being conducted to streamline Portland Area Office procurement functions; centralize Area Service Units efforts under one award vehicle to procure testing supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; while ensuring an equitable allocation of testing kits and reagents/other critical supply items, etc. This is for Portland Area Office which is part of a highly decentralized Agency with 12 Area Offices and over 177 facilities nation-wide; increased accountability and procurement oversight, etc. In addition, the availability of FDA EUA analyzers and testing kits/reagents is extremely limited due to increased world-wide demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Sourcing from approved resellers and other distribution channels is not effective in receiving a reliable allocation of supplies. To our knowledge, Cepheid, who manufactures and sells the required laboratory equipment and testing kits etc., is the only vendor capable of fulfilling this Area-wide requirement and the associated estimated ordering volumes. Utilization and sourcing from the manufacturer also ensure that the equipment's warranty is maintained as there are no approved servicing contractors or wholesalers. This effort is similar to the national IDIQ (75H70420D00001) awarded by the Indian Health Service Head Quarters on June 30, 2020 as well as the following national awards pursued by other Federal customers: (W81K0420D0008), Department of Defense, and (36C77620D0002). The applicable NAICS code is 325413, In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing. The Small Business Size Standards are 1000 employees and 1,250 employees respectively. The period of performance for this effort will be a 12-month BASE Period with 4 annual Option Periods. This sole source contracting action will be conducted under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements and the Portland Area Office Class J&A issued as a result of the COVID-19 required procurements. Additionally, through this procurement as specified under FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A) &(B) Portland Area Office and the USG will avoid - Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition; or - Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements. (10 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)(B) or 41 U.S.C. 3304(b)(2).) This notice is for informational purposes only, and is not a request for a proposal/quotation. Responses to this notice must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government, would not be cost or time prohibitive, and would not hinder the mission objective of the Indian Health Service Portland Area Office. In addition, information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contractor otherwise pay for 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. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the requirement, and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, nor to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be announced to the public on the Government Point of Entry SAM.GOV in accordance with FAR Part 5. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. 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). Questions or comments to this Notice of Intent should be directed to the Contract Specialist, Daniel Otis, at contact@example.gov via e-mail only other methods of correspondences will not be responded to. Any resulting correspondences should include in the subject line of the email, Contractor Name, UEI #, CAGE CODE, Special Notice or Solicitation Announcement Number and Date.