Maintenance and Support of a Specific Pathogen-Free, Indian-Origin Rhesus Macaque Breeding Program

This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations, and no solicitation is available at this time. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified sources to provide the services outlined by this notice. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method including whether a set-aside is possible. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code specific to this requirement is 112990 with a Small Business size standard of $0.75 million. Background and Purpose: The Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health was established to facilitate research in vaccine development. The VRC is dedicated to improving global human health through the rigorous pursuit of effective vaccines for human diseases including Human Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDs) and agents with bioterrorism potential. Currently, the VRC is seeking sources that can provide year-round, daily maintenance of a specific pathogen-free (SPF) breeding colony of Indian-origin rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). It is anticipated that any contract or contracts arising from a solicitation posted subsequent to this notice will be executed on or about June 1, 2019. Such a contract, which may be a single or multiple award, may be issued for a base period of one year with the potential for future option periods. The proposed contract or contracts will provide support related to vaccine development for HIV AIDS. The thrust of the AIDS project is to develop and characterize the simian model for human AIDS. This is accomplished by studying the pathogenesis of simian immunodeficiency virus infection in primates and applying that information to attempts to develop effective vaccines against SIV. The specific objective of this requirement is to provide the VRC with juvenile SPF non-human primates necessary to accomplish its research mission; therefore, it is expected that up to one hundred fifty (150) macaques per year will be shipped to the VRC. Requirements: The Contractor shall be required to provide all facilities including those necessary for animal housing and segregation; technical and managerial personnel; equipment and all other resources necessary to house, feed, and maintain a Sero-pathogen-free (SPF) colony in good health in order to derive off-spring from serological positive founder breeders. To support the breeding program, the Contractor will be required to provide a variety of logistical and clinical services including veterinary care, laboratory and diagnostic pathology facilities and services; animal quarantine; animal identification and records keeping/analyses; and animal shipping. The Contractor shall also be required to maintain an Animal Care and Use Program which includes maintaining an Animal Welfare Assurance number provided by the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare; an USDA R (Research) Registration; and an Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International file number or equivalent certification. Additionally, the Contractor's standards for animal care, biosafety, and occupational health and safety must conform to the most recent versions of the Animal Welfare Act, PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, The Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, Biosafety in Microbiology and Biomedical laboratories and Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Research Animals. Capability statements submitted in response to this announcement must demonstrate the Offeror's qualifications and experience with particular attention to the expertise, experience, qualifications, and availability of key professional and technical staff in working on projects of similar size, scope, and complexity. The NIAID currently maintains through multiple contracts, three colonies with sizes ranging from 100 to 800 primates divided into subgroups. A Contractor may be required to support all or a portion of an existing colony, allowing for population growth to meet delivery requirements; therefore, respondents to this notice must provide information regarding their maximum primate holding capacity, availability of skilled staffing, equipment, and all other resources necessary to maintain and enrich a breeding colony. Past performance is essential in this requirement. While past performance will not be evaluated at this time, interested parties should reference experiences with work on Government or commercial contracts of similar nature and scope within the past five (5) years. This information will be combined with all other information provided by the Offeror and will assist the Government in evaluating the Offeror's capacity to perform the services as requested. Based on the evaluation of capability statements, the Government may make a determination to solicit as Full and Open, or to set aside all or part of this requirement for a small businesses if applicable. Capability statements must be emailed to the attention of the Contract Specialist referenced below no later than 11 am EST on June 26, 2018, and must include the respondent's DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and their business status (e.g., large business, small business, woman-owned, 8(a), HUBZone, etc) applicable to the NAICS code noted in this announcement. Offerors must include the announcement number in the subject line of their e-mail. Any questions regarding this notice must be directed, in writing to LaDonna Stewart at lstewart@niaid.nih.gov no later than the date and time specified for submission of the capability statements. Collect calls will not be accepted. This notice is for informational/market research and planning purposes only. This notice does not commit the government to award a contract now or in the future, or to pay for the information provided in response to this notice. "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. 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)."