Pathology Monitoring of Aged Rodent Colonies

This is a Research and Development (R&D) Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential R&D requirement. Small Businesses are encouraged to respond. BACKGROUND Biomedical research is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Aging (NIA) through several programs which require animals as models of the aging process. To facilitate this research, the NIA has established contracts for the supply of genetically defined, barrier-reared aged rats and mice to be made available to investigators for aging research. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES The objective is have independent health and pathology monitoring of the NIA aged rodent colonies. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS The Contractor shall receive animals from the NIA aged rodent colonies, perform health assessments, and report the results of the tests to the NIA Contracting Officer Representative (COR). Specifically, the Contractor shall perform clinical evaluation of mice and rats selected by the COR from the NIA colonies and shipped at no cost to the contractor. Total numbers of mice and rats to be evaluated will range between 440 and 800 per year. No more than 30 animals will be shipped in any one week. As part of the assessment, the contractor shall describe general conditions of all animals, weight, and any visible lesions or symptoms, conduct a gross pathology examination on all animals, and evaluate eighty percent (80%) of the animals with the Basic Profile (below) and the other twenty percent (20%) with the Comprehensive Profile (below), which includes the Basic Profile plus additional tests listed under Comprehensive Profile. All tests are applied to both rats and mice, unless indicated specific to either rats (R) or mice (M). Basic Profile: Serology- MHV (M), Ectromelia virus (M), Mouse parvovirus(es) (M), Theiler's (M), PVM, LCMV (M), Rotavirus (M), Sendai, Rat Parvoviruses (R), Rat coronovirus (R), Pneumocystis carinii (R); Microbiology - Mycoplasma pulmonis, Corynebacterium kutscheri, Streptococcus pneumonia, Citrobacter freundii (4280), Pseudomonas sp., Salmonella enteritidis; Parasitology- Spironucleus muris, Giardia sp., Cryptosporidium sp., Syphacia sp., Hymenolepis sp., Mites; Histopathology - GI tract, Small intestine, Cecum, Colon, Respiratory tract, Liver. Comprehensive Profile: Reovirus(es), Polyomavirus (M), Adenoviruses, LDV (M), TMEV (R), Hantavirus (R); Microbiology- CAR bacillus (histopathology), Pasteurella pneumotropica, Bacillus piliformis (histopathology), Helicobacter; Histology - Spleen, Thymus, Heart, Kidney, Ovaries, Uterus, Testes, Prepuce, Brain, Skin, Salivary gland, Harderian gland. Excess tissue can be disposed of upon completion of the analysis. Slides and embedded tissue blocks are to be archived for a period of 1 year, after which they may be discarded unless otherwise specified by the COR. The Contractor must be prepared to accept delivery of archived slides and tissue blocks from the previous contract and store them for the remainder of the one year archival period. At the end of the contract period, the Contractor shall ship the archived slides and blocks to the new Contractor upon written direction from the COR. REPORTS/DELIVERABLES: (1) Individual pathology monitoring reports for each weekly accession; (2) Annual report summarizing the monitoring with any unusual developments noted; (3) Final Report summarizing the results from testing results and unusual developments over the contract period. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE. The anticipated period of performance is for five (5) years from 03/01/2015 through 02/29/20. OTHER IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS. The Government is expected to use procedures in FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items. It is anticipated that an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), task orders with firm fixed prices type contract will be issued. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541940 with a size standard of $7.0 Million is being contemplated. CAPABILITY STATEMENT/INFORMATION SOUGHT: a. Capability Statement - Respondents to this notice must provide, as part of their responses, a capability statement to include the following: (1) information regarding the respondents' (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and, (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information; (2) respondents' DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc.)pursuant to the applicable NAICS code; (3) catalog prices for the tests described above; and (4) any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirement. b. Information Submission Instructions - Respondents should provide responses accordingly: (1) submit information both electronically and by mail. No telephone or facsimile responses will be accepted; (2) format capability statements using Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF including attachments, resumes, charts, etc. Use single space, 12 font minimum and 8 � x 11 size paper; (3) organize material in such a manner that clearly identifies and addresses capability requirements and provide an executive summary; (4) capability statement should not exceed ten (10) single sided pages including references; (5) respondents must send two original copies via mail and one electronic copy via email; (6) responses should be received no later than March 18, 2014 at 4:00 PM Local Time; (7) include respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses; and (8) send responses to this notice via email to wilsonr@mail.nih.gov. The original statements mailed using the U.S. Postal Service should be sent to ATTN: Rosanne S. Wilson, National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisitions - NIDA Neuroscience COAC, NIA R&D Contracts Management Section, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8154, MSC 9661, Bethesda, MD 20892-9661. If using a courier service such as the UPS, Federal Express, etc., change the City, State and Zip Code to Rockville, MD 20852. (Please be aware that the U.S. Postal Service's "Express Mail" DOES NOT deliver to the Rockville, Maryland address.) 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. CONFIDENTIALITY. 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).