NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE LAB SERVICES, SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURED BY LIFE TECHNOLOGIES

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, ARS, Western Business Service, intends to award a sole source procurement to Life Technologies Corporation, 3175 Stanley Rd. Grand Island, NY through an IDIQ Contract with firm-fixed unit pricing to be utilized by USDA-Wide for various DNA sequencers that can be utilized for individual samples for sequencing or genotyping and will include discounted pricing for products and services related to DNA sequencers and supplies (POP matrix, matrix standards, chemicals, BigDye terminator, capillary arrays, size matrix, and service contracts). Multiple USDA Agencies have numerous separate contract vehicles awarded non-competitively to procure scientific equipment and service agreements from Life Technologies. The utilization of a consolidated contract, with a Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) covering all line items, to procure Life Technologies products and services on a sole-source basis would provide administrative efficiencies and cost avoidance, greater leverage for USDA on contract pricing, and quicker turnaround time. This requirement is being conducted as a strategic sourcing initiative and is in direct support of USDA's Shared First Policy. Life Technologies is the sole producer and distributer of many items critical to USDA research. While other companies produced similar products, comparison of experiments over time require using the same chemicals and equipment and thus purchase of these specific products is necessary. Some of these items include: Life Technologies manufactures and solely distributes many pieces of scientific equipment that are required by the USDA. Some of these include an E-Gel Imager system which is required for digitally monitoring gel electrophoresis, visualizing both light and UV-based stained gels, and carrying out nucleic acid extraction from gels for both southern and western transfer of nucleic acids and proteins. No other source could be found that offered a product that meets all of the requirements for setups with a variety of applications, including allowing for tracking of gel electrophoresis. Multiple locations throughout the USDA have requirements for DNA sequencers that can be utilized for individual samples for sequencing or genotyping. Life Technologies produces the leading machines for traditional Sanger sequencing and SSR analysis. Such machines include the 3730 (XL), 3130 (XL), and 3500 genetic analyzers. The technologies of the machines are proprietary as are many of the supplies (POP matrix, matrix standards, chemicals, BigDye terminator, capillary arrays, size matrix, and service contracts). USDA has had some of these machines for many years and in order to allow for accurate data comparison over years it is essential to have the same chemicals (POP) and supporting equipment parts (capillary arrays). Therefore, changing products would require costly recalibration of experiments. Life Technologies is the sole producer and distributor of the ION products. These are related to the ION Torrent type DNA sequencing platforms which are considered 2nd generation sequencing. The equipment and supplies are proprietary to Life Technologies. 2nd generation sequencing technology is required in USDA research to study whole genomes. Covered under this would be the platforms, which is unique, and the supplies to operate the various IO related machines. Life Technologies produces items for molecular biology research that are proprietary or that have unique properties needed by the USDA. Platinum Taq, AmpliTaq, TaqMan, Superscript, Dynabeads, and Megascript are some of the products as are products for its proprietary Qbuit equipment. Life Technology produces a preformed gel system for RNA, DNA, and protein analysis. This system utilizes proprietary premade gels Nupage, TRISGLY, E-GEL, that are proprietary to Life Technologies. Cloning is a common molecular biology technique. USDA scientists perform this on a routine basis and often it is technically challenging. Life Technologies has some proprietary technology (Gateway, TOPO, TA cloning, and Zero) that greatly accelerate cloning experiments. There are other specialized consumables associated with Life Technologies-developed products which do not have any substitutes and are only available directly from Life Technologies such as custom SNP assays compatible with the PCR 7500 FAST machine, Ion PI CHIP Kit V2. BC compatible with the Ion Proton CHEF, BigDye Xterminator kits compatible with the 3730 DNA analyzer, AgPath-ID One Step RT-PCR Kit, MagMax-96 AI/ND Viral RNA Isolation Kit, and the following items compatible with the Ion Torrent PGM: Platinum Blue PCR Supermix, SYBR Stain, Platinum Taq DNA Polymerase High Fidelity, PCR SuperMix, SuperScript III First-Strand Synthesis SuperMix, AccuPrimeTM Pfx SuperMix, MAX Efficiency DH5?TM Competent Cells, RNase OUT Recombinant Ribonuclease Inhibitor, TOPO TA Cloning Kit, TOP 10 Competent Cells, ElectroMAX A.tumefaciens LBA4404 Cells, TrackIT 1 kb Plus Ladder, Nuclease Free Water (not DEPC treated), DEPC-treated water, NuPAGE MOPS SDS Running Buffer (20X), NuPAGE Transfer Buffer (20X), TrackIt phi X174RF DNA/Hae III, NuPAGE Novex 4-12% Bis-Tris Gel, S.C. EasyComp Transformation Kit, Ion 316 Chip Kit V2, Ion 318 Chip Kit V2, 2% E-Gel Size Select gels, Ion PGM Template OT2 Supplies 400, Ion PGM Template OT2 Solutions 400, Ion PGM Template OT2 Reactions 400, Ion PGM Template OT2 Reagents 400, Ion PGM Enrichment Beads, Ion PGM Sequencing Solutions 400, Ion PGM Sequencing Supplies 400, Ion PGM Sequencing Reagents 400, Ion Sphere Quality Control Kit, Ion Library, Equalizer Kits, Ion Plus Fragment Library Kits, Ion Shear Plus Reagents Kits, and 50bp DNA Ladder. Upgrades to Life Technologies products, both in terms of software and hardware, are only available directly from Life Technologies. Some examples of these types of upgrades include the software GeneMapper which is used for data analysis and often USDA scientists are required to update this software to conform to USDA IT policies. Calibration kits and the associated installation, such as for the SDS-7000 machine, are necessary for required upgrades, such as upgrading machines from being Windows XP-compatible. The software is proprietary to Life Technologies and only distributed by them, as are the associated machines. Service contracts on Life Technologies devices are commonly required. These contracts must be purchased from Life Sciences directly as Life Technologies does not authorize any third party service provider in North America to perform maintenance and repairs on their machines. Life Technologies maintains IP rights to its collection software and service tools software. Third party resellers and service providers are strictly prohibited from accessing, using or selling this software. This includes service contracts on machines such as Applied Biosystems (now Life Technologies) 433A Peptide Synthesizer, 3130xl Genetic Analyzer, ABI7000 Sequence Detection System, ABI7500, 7500 FAST Real Time PCR system, ABI 3130-16 Genetic Analyzer, Ion PGM System, and ION Onetouch 2.0 system. Pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c) (1) and FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The equipment and services will be located/ utilized at USDA-Wide facilities and agencies. The IDIQ Contract will establish firm-fixed pricing for the specific items listed, and the total value over 5 years (09/01/2015 to 08/31/2020) is not-to-exceed $25M. The Government intends to award a firm fixed price IDIQ contract to Life Technologies Corporation on or about August 31, 2015. This Notice of Intent is not considered a Request for Quotation (RFQ) nor is it a Request for Proposals (RFP). No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government will consider all responses received by 4:00PM Central Standard Time, August 27, 2015. Information received will be considered solely for determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Inquiries will only be accepted via email to the Contracting Administrator/Specialist at the following address: Contracting Office Address: USDA-ARS-WBSC Shalunda Mix 141 Experiment Station Road Stoneville, MS 38776 shalunda.mix@ars.usda.gov