Production of B6C3F1 Mice for NTP Studies

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. The NAICS code for the project is 112990, All Other Animal Production The small business size standard is $0.75 million BACKGROUND. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) within the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is an interagency program whose mission is to evaluate agents of public health concern by developing and applying tools of modern toxicology and molecular biology. The program maintains an objective, science-based approach in dealing with critical issues in toxicology and is committed to using the best science available to prioritize, design, conduct, and interpret its studies. The evaluation of chemicals and other agents is generally conducted through a sequence of studies, which involve the exposure of laboratory rodents to these agents. Rats and mice are appropriate models for evaluating the toxicologic and carcinogenic potential of these compounds. The NTP utilizes the B6C3F1 hybrid mouse and various rat stocks/strains to evaluate this potential. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES. The NIEHS seeks capability statements from qualified small businesses to establish, operate and maintain rodent production colonies under strict barrier conditions in order to produce approximately 150 per sex of B6C3F1 mice at weekly intervals. Additionally the contractor shall be able to produce up to 350 per sex of B6C3F1 mice at four to eight intervals as requested for a total of up to approximately 14,000 B6C3F1 mice per year for the NTP research and testing program. To ensure continued production in the event of contamination, environmental systems failure, or natural disaster, geographically separate backup production colonies that can quickly be brought into production are required. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS. Specifically, the contractor shall (1) maintain, operate and dedicate to the performance of this contract the necessary number of isolators and maximum barrier units or rooms. Operational parameters require that all bedding, diet, cage units, and ancillary equipment be sterile; (2) rederive the C57BL/6N (e84) and C3H/HeN MTV- (e84) mice by embryo transfer or Cesarean section and establish defined micro-flora associated (modified Schaedler) foundation colonies to ensure an adequate and continuous supply of quality animals for the NTP testing program. Offspring from these foundation colonies shall be used to establish expansion and/or production colonies to produce approximately 150 - 350 per sex of B6C3F1 mice; (3) demonstrate the capability to save embryos and sperm by cryopreservation; (4) assure nation-wide delivery of litters weaned by 21 days of age from the production colonies to the current, nine NTP end-user labs within 30 hours of having been shipped from the contractor's facilities; (5) assure mice are free of viruses (PVM, Sendai, Parvo virus, (MMV, MPV), MHV, REO-3, LCMV, Hantaan, MaD, Polyoma, Ectromelia, EDIM, MNV), mycoplasma (Mycoplasma pulmonis, M. arthritidis, M. neurolyticum, M. muris), bacteria (Bordetella bronchiseptica, Corynebacterium kutscheri, Streptococcus pneumoniae, CAR Bacillus, Pasteurella pneumotropica, Streptobacillus moniliformis, Citrobacter rodentium, Clostridium piliforme, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus group D, Salmonella, , pathogenic Escherichia coli. pathogenic Helicobacter sp. such as H. hepaticus and H. bilis), protozoa (Hemobartonella, Eperythrozoon, Coccidia, Spironucleus, Giardia, Entamoeba, Trichomonas, Encephalitozoon, Toxoplasma), mycotic organisms (Microsporum, Trichophyton, Histoplasma, Coccidioides, Cryptococcus, Candida, Sporotrichium, Aspergillus, Pneumocystis), helminth parasites (Heterakis, Aspicularis, Syphacia, Trichinella, Capillaria, Trichosomoides, Nippostrongylus, Angiostronqylus, Gongylonema, Moniliformis, Rodentolepis, Hymenolepis, Oochoristica, Cysticercus, Coenurus), ectoparasites (Radfordia, Psorergates, Ornithonyssus, Myocoptes, Myobia, Notoedres, Polyplax); (6) evaluate 5 per sex of the retired breeders and weanlings of the foundation, expansion, and production colonies for microbial status and health status at 4-week intervals; (7) provide total support for genetic monitoring of the foundation and expansion colonies and monitor the genetic status of the retired breeders and/or weanlings. Documented breeding schemes used to produce genetically defined animals shall be designed to assure the homogeneity of the hybrid B6C3F1 mouse and the integral structure of the colony; (8) review the management of the colonies at least once per year by a qualified animal geneticist. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE AND STAFFING. The anticipated start date of the award is September 1, 2010. The planned total period of performance is ten (10) years. It is estimated that the level of effort is approximately 12,700 direct labor hours per year. This figure includes hours for the Principal Investigator, the Project Director, the Animal Geneticist, and Animal Care Technicians. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS. There will be no Government furnished equipment or facilities. Government furnished property is limited to live mice and/or embryos. CAPABILITY STATEMENT. Respondents should submit information regarding their: (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; (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information; and (d) 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. Capability statements shall be submitted in Adobe pdf or MS Word format and not exceed 20 single-sided pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.) presented in single-space using 12-point font size. Capability Statements must be submitted electronically by November 20, 2009, 3:00 PM, EST to the email address of the Primary Point of Contact listed below. All responses must be received by the specified date and time in order to be considered. DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTICES - 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 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). Small businesses that believe they possess the necessary capabilities to meet these requirements are encouraged to contact the Primary Point of Contact listed below.