Metabolomic Analysis Services

RFI is being extended until 3 Feb 2020 at 10:00 A.M. Subject: Metabolomic Analysis Services for the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS (RFQ); IT IS STRICTLY A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). NEITHER UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS NOR ANY OTHER KINDS OF OFFERS WILL BE CONSIDERED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI. NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED PURSUANT TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. 1.0 DISCLAIMER: This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kind of offers will be considered in response to this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. At this time, questions concerning the composition and requirements for a future RFP will not be entertained. 2.0 SUBJECT: The United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM), is conducting market research to assess commercial availability of performing metabolomics analysis services. In line with the above goal, USARIEM wishes to obtain information from commercial sources who possess the ability to perform the tasks required. 3.0 BACKGROUND: The USARIEM's mission is to optimize Warfighter health and performance through medical research. The USARIEM is internationally recognized as the premiere Department of Defense laboratory for Warfighter health and performance research and focuses on environmental medicine, physiology, physical and cognitive performance, and nutrition research. This is a new requirement for the Military Nutrition Division at USARIEM. The Military Nutrition Division is one of four research divisions within USARIEM. The mission of the Military Nutrition Division is to conduct research that provides biomedical science basis for developing new rations, menus, policies and programs that enable Warfighter health-readiness and optimal performance. Its focus areas include Recovery Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Dietary Supplements and Physiological Resilience. This requirement is for analytical services of blood (plasma/serum), urine, saliva, fecal and tissue samples for metabolomics analyses. The contractor shall conduct metabolomics analysis, and provide all equipment and consumables necessary for running those analyses on samples received from USARIEM in support of USARIEM research studies. The contractor shall also statistically analyze metabolomics data, and provide results of the analyses in various electronic formats. In addition, the contractor shall assist USARIEM scientists in study design as needed, in understanding the methods and analyses used, and in interpreting and reporting the results. 4.0 RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS: Respondents should address the all of the following in their capabilities statement: Organization Information: Organization's full legal name DUNS Number Socio-economic status (Large business, small business, 8(a), VOSB, SDVOSB, etc.) Address Point of contact name, phone number, and email Company Capabilities Statement: The capability statements provide must include the following: The contractor must be capable of providing analytical services of blood (plasma/serum), urine, saliva, fecal, and tissue samples for metabolomics analyses as defined herein. Samples will be provided by USARIEM. The contractor must be capable of conducting targeted and untargeted metabolite analyses at the following quantities: Untargeted metabolomics analysis in up to 2000 plasma/serum samples in the contract base period and option period 1; up to 1500 plasma/serum samples in option period 2, and then up to 1000 plasma/serum samples per year thereafter. Untargeted metabolomics analysis in up to 200 fecal samples per year. Untargeted metabolomics analysis in up to 200 urine samples per year. Untargeted metabolomics analysis in up to 200 saliva samples per year. Untargeted metabolomics analysis in up to 100 tissue samples per year. The contractor must be capable of maintaining an extensive library of >4,000 known metabolites and be able to accurately identify >1,000 metabolites in a sample. The contractor laboratory must be capable of the following: Possess expertise in utilizing ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem high resolution/accurate mass spectrometry for identifying metabolites in biological samples across multiple chemical classes. Possess expertise in bioinformatics and pathway analysis of metabolomics data. Laboratory systems are governed by a set of Standard Operating Procedures that are reviewed and updated, and which include quality control steps. A documented history of contributing to peer-reviewed publications using metabolomics analyses. The contractor must demonstrate the ability to analyze, summarize, and interpret generated metabolomics data for all samples. Data analysis will include, but not be limited to, a list of biochemicals detected, KEGG/HMBD links, relative quantitation, heat map and statistical results (i.e., detected biochemicals grouped by pathway and super-pathway, fold-change relative to comparator group, and associated statistical analyses, and summary of results). Access to scientists that can assist in data analysis, interpretation and reporting will also be included. The contractor must provide detail with regards to identical, similar to or related past or current experience demonstrating their capabilities in providing these types of services in their capabilities statements. 5.0 SMALL BUSINESS SET ASIDE: The Government has not determined the set-aside capability, if possible, at this time. The Government will use the RFI results in analyzing small businesses capacity to perform this requirement and make its decision. 6.0 INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING: Submission: Please submit an electronic copy of the capabilities statement, in a .pdf file type, of your response to Ms. Beverly R. Michaels at email address: beverly.r.michaels.civ@mail.mil. Please use the title in your email - Metabolomics Analysis Services for USARIEM - RFI Response. Due Date: RFI response submission is due by 10:00 a.m. E.S.T. on Thursday, 30 January 2020. Page Limit: Limit your total written response to 10 pages (single-sided). The cover page and table of contents does not count towards the page limit. Beyond the 10 page limit, the Government may only review examples of media and graphic design, as requested above.