Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) Aptamer Probe Development

This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract and is not a request for competitive proposals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) hereby announces its intent to award a sole source contract to Base Pair Biotechnologies, Inc., 8619 Broadway Street, Suite 100, Pearland, TX 77584-9765 for the acquisition of Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) Aptamers Probe development. The statutory authority for this sole source acquisition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) in accordance with FAR Part 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirement. The NAICS code for this acquisition is 541714, Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology). The period of performance for this procurement is four (4) months. The purpose of this procurement is to purchase Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) Aptamers Probe development from Base Pair Biotechnologies, Inc. The aptamer probe development project consists of four phases: initial aptamer candidate selection, high throughput sequencing and bioinformatics, affinity screening and aptamer-based enrichment screening, and delivery of material. PTH is a polypeptide hormone synthesized by the parathyroid gland through a conversion of pre-pro-PTH to pro-PTH via a 25 amino acid N-terminal cleavage and pro-PTH to PTH via a 6 amino acid N-terminal cleavage. PTH is a key biomarker in patient diagnosis and treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD), as well as hypo/hyperparathyroidism, hypercalcemia and renal osteodystrophy. There is an obvious clinical need for the harmonization of PTH testing. Several other companies can provide aptamer development. However, Base Pair Technologies is the only company that provides the following unique services, including: (1) library screening against 1015 unique single stranded oligonucleotides, (2) multiplex SELEX which determines the best candidates that bind to the target, (3) sequencing by next generation sequencing which distinguises aptamers that bind to single targets, multiple targets and unwanted molecules and (4) high-throughput screening/characterization to generate 2-20 potential candidates. Other companies with the ability to provide aptamer development were researched. However, they could only implement antibody libraries with 109 molecules (which may result in a lower probability of generating an applicable PTH aptamer sequence), could only bind one target at a time and only screen targets iteratively instead of in a multiplexing process. This results in processes that take much longer compared to Base Pair's process and will impact end results. Base Pair Technologies, Inc. is the only source for this instrument that can meet our specific needs and fulfill the requirements of the aptamer development that the Protein Biomarker Laboratory needs for this project. As a result of this synopsis, no competitive solicitation will be posted on FedBizOpps.com. We will only issue a solicitation to Base Pair Technologies, Inc. However, all responsible sources who believe they can meet these requirements, may submit their capabilities and/or qualifications to Tonya S. Justice, Contracting Officer, via email to TJustice@cdc.gov, no later than 10:00am eastern standard time on July 10, 2018. Reference solicitation number RFP #75D301-18-Q-68645 in the subject line of the email. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed action will be based on responses to this notice and is solely in the discretion of the Contracting Officer. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.