G
Background
The Optogenetics and Transgenic Technology Core (OTTC) at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program (IRP) was established for the purpose of developing technology to understand the contributions and connections of specific neurons in cognitive and behavioral functions related to addiction. Part of these efforts is the development of novel transgenic rats and viral vectors that serve as a versatile platform for understanding the cellular and molecular functions of neurons and glia in cognition, behavior and disease. An emphasis is placed on developing transgenic tools that will be generally useful to the scientific community and made available once published.
Purpose
The purpose of this requirement is to acquire cryopreservation for seventeen (17) novel transgenic rat lines. The NIDA OTTC facility has developed unique transgenic rats for understanding neuronal functions in rodent models of addiction and other neurological diseases. Cryopreservation service is necessary to protect the significant time and resource investment by the NIDA IRP to generate and characterize these animals which will be of a broad use to the scientific community.
Project Requirements
The NIDA OTTC possesses 17 transgenic rat lines that require cryopreservation service. Specifically, the Contractor must perform the following for the NIDA OTTC:
1. At direction from the NIDA OTTC Director or his designee, the contractor shall cyropreserve OTTC generated rat lines.
2. The contractor must be able to receive proven breeder males to breed heterozygous x wild type (WT) rats.
3. The contractor shall be responsible for breeding heterozygous (transgene carriers provided by NIDA) x wild type Long Evans rats to obtain embryos. The contractor shall be responsible for providing the wild type Long Evans rats.
4. The contractor shall collect a minimum of 250 embryos per transgenic line.
5. The contractor shall provide portion aliquots of embryos for every cryopreserved rat line immediately upon cryopreservation to the NIDA OTTC director located at 251 Bayview Blvd, Baltimore MD 21224.
6. The remainder of embryos shall be stored by the contractor for the period of performance of this requirement.
7. In the event of damage to contractor storage unit or facility, the contractor shall possess the capacity to store cryopreserved material in multiple backup facilities. Storage beyond the period of performance of this statement of work is not required.
8. The contractor shall re-derive lines in case of catastrophic damage to facility and/or loss of embryos.
9. The contractor shall provide a guarantee of recovery of cryopreserved animals in the event of loss or damage.
10. At the end of the requirement period of performance, the contractor shall return the stored embryos to the NIDA OTTC.
11. The contractor must provide guarantee that viable rats can generated from cryopreserved embryos. In the event that viable rates cannot be generated from the cryopreserved embryos, the contractor shall cover costs to recreate the transgenic rat line.
Period of Performance
The anticipated period of performance is twelve (12) months from date of award.
Contract Type
The Government intends to issue a firm fixed price purchase order for this requirement.
APPLICABLE CLAUSES AND PROVISIONS
All Offerors MUST be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).
FAR clause 52.213-4 Terms and Conditions - Simplified Acquisitions applies to this acquisition.
The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation on the basis of best value, technical factors and price considered. Technical factors together shall be considered more important than price. The technical evaluation factors are as follows, in order of importance:
1. Factor 1: Technical Approach
The offeror shall provide its technical approach to performing the required tasks identified in this solicitation.
2. Factor 2: Corporate Experience
The offeror shall provide a list of two (2) contracts or purchase orders completed during the past five (5) years, similar in size and scope to the requirements outlined in the Statement of Work. Corporate experience must document the Offeror's ability to provide cryopreservation services to the NIDA OTTC. Experience must be specific to the cryopreservation of rats. Offerors shall include the following information for each contract or purchase order listed:
Name of Contracting Organization
Contract Number
Contract Type
Total Contract Value
Description of Requirement and Specific Responsibilities of the Offeror as they relate to this SOW
Contract Period of Performance
RESPONSE FORMAT
Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror's capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The offeror must submit a technical response and a price quotation. The technical response should be prepared in reference to the evaluation criteria identified in this solicitation and should not exceed 5 pages. The price quotation must include the requirements listed above as well as associated pricing.
Contractors must provide their Company Name, Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), Business Size, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information in their responses. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov."
All responses must be received by the closing date of this announcement and must reference solicitation number HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-CSS-14-470. Responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Lauren Phelps, Contract Specialist, at [email protected].