Purina Mills Laboratory Animal Feed

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate a contract on a sole source basis with Animal Specialties And Provisions South (ASAP), LLC Elkridge, MD. The purpose of the contract is for the contractor to supply animal feed and bedding including rodent and primate diets (5021, 5045, 5038, 5040, and 5049) used to feed laboratory animal colonies at the NIH. Diet is an important environmental factor that affects reproduction, growth, disease, and response to experimental manipulation in laboratory animals. Diets can introduce confounding variables into research (see attached references). These Purina diets are - closed formula which means their quantitative ingredient compositions are proprietary, so their nutrient, contaminant, and other intrinsic dietary factors, such as isoflavones and mycotoxins, cannot be duplicated. ASAP distributes lab animal feed and bedding between New York and Virginia. There are no other Purina distributors within proximity to the NIH campus. Responses The proposed acquisition action is for items and services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1 (b). If you believe you can provide the items or services, please forward capability statements to contact@example.gov by 5pm (ET) on Thursday, June 04, 2020 and reference solicitation number NIHOLAO-OD3-NOI-5709547. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract acquisition based upon responses to the notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. 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. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. 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. Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be announced to the public in Federal Business Opportunities in accordance with the FAR Part 5. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any nonproprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).