Announcement Number: NIHDA20180000225

Date Notice Posted: May 24, 2018

Date Solicitaiton Issued: May 24, 2018

Date Responses Due: June 4, 2018

Proposed Award Date: June 7, 2018

Project Title: Fetal Bovine Serum

Contracting Office: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition (OA) 6001 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20852

Contact Points:
Contracting Officer: Donna Morris, 301-496-2076, [email protected]
Contracting Officer: Jeffrey Schmidt, 301-402-1488, [email protected]

Acquisition Authority: This acquisition is being conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and the resultant contract award will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-98 / 05-01-2018.

North American Classification System (NAICS) Code: The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 325199 - All Other Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing with a Size Standard of 1,250 employees.

Set-aside Status: Small Business set-aside restriction is not applicable.

Competition Status: This requirement is posted as non-competitive.

Non-Competitive (Single-sole Source (Including brand-name)) Determination: This notice of proposed acquisition is posted as an intent to award a purchase order on a non-competitive basis to Sigma Aldrich, Inc. located at 3050 Spruce Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted specifically producing no other sources of supply or service capable of achieving this Government requirement.

Description of Requirement:
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), used routinely to support the growth of cells in culture medium, is a key and critical component of most cell culture efforts. By nature, FBS is highly variable, as it is a complex mixture of albumins, growth factors and growth inhibitors. Due to its complexity, the precise composition of FBS varies depending on its grade, supplier and lot. Cells that thrive in cell culture media supplemented with one type of FBS may suffer a loss of viability when switched to a different source of FBS. One way in which to decrease variation is to purchase high quality, characterized FBS exclusively from one manufacturer. The RNAi lab has previously purchased Sigma media for over 4 years, and it has been used by the biologists in their cell culture efforts. Hundreds of high-throughput, cell-based assays have been carried out at NCATS using Sigma media as the FBS supplement.

Salient Characteristics:
a. Manufactured in cGMP (21 CFR 820) compliant and ISO9001 certified facilities- full traceability of every step through final packaging
b. Aseptically packaged in Class 100 cleanroom
c. Grade: characterized
d. Must be sterile, US origin, Non processed, USDA Inspected
e. Tested negative for Bovine Parvovirus, Bovine RSV, BVDV, Rabies Virus, Reovirus, Bluetongue
f. Also tested for presence of cytopathic and Hemadsorbing agents
g. Triple filtered by minimum 100 nm pore-size rated filters
h. Contains ≤ 10 EU/mL Endotoxin and ≤ 20 mg/dL Hemoglobin

Physical, Functional, and Performance Specifications:
1) Sixty (60) size 500 mL bottles of Sigma Cell Culture Fetal Bovine Serum,
2) P/N F4135-500ml, Heat Inactivated: BATCH #18A79

Delivery Date or Period of Performance
Within 30 days ARO

Selection Criteria:
Offerors shall be evaluated on the ability to meet the requirements contained in this Statement of Work (SOW); specifically, by providing literature or other documentation demonstrating the ability to meet each element listed in the SOW. One offeror will be selected that is most advantageous to the Government based on their technical ability and costs.

Summary Statement:
This notice is NOT a request for competitive proposals or quotations.
It is anticipated that a solicitation will be issued on or about May 24, 2018. Interested parties may request a copy of the solicitation or identify their interest and capability by contacting the Contracting Officer specified in this announcement.
All responses must be received by Monday, June 4, 2018 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Time.

Responses must be submitted electronically to Donna Morris, [email protected], and must reference the solicitation number NIHDA-2018-00225, on your electronic request. FAX requests are not accepted.

In addition, the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All respondents must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.
Closing Statement:
"All responsible sources may submit response which, if timely received, must be considered by the agency."