This is a Notice of Intent, not a request for proposal.  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Genscript to procure DNA construct and monoclonal antibody production.

The Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health will conduct research that facilitates the development of effective vaccines. Towards this end, our goal has been to develop vaccine immunogens that elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against the virus, along with further optimization through iterations of this procedure. In order to achieve this goal; DNA of hundreds of vaccine candidates will be synthesized, expressed and tested for their immunogenicity. The DNA plasmids for the designed vaccine immunogens will need to be synthesized by Genscript in order to be expressed and purified at VRC for further characterization. We use Genscript protocols in the development of vaccines for HIV and other viruses. Genscript provides high-quality DNA plasmids to VRC in a timely manner and is used for multiple projects. Changing provider now will compromise the integrity of our data.

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 253 (c) (1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1 only one responsible source and no other supply of service will satisfy agency requirements. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.  All responsible sources that could provide comparable services may submit a capability statement that will be considered by email (subject line to reference NOI-NIAID-2028979) to Lorena Waller at [email protected] 9am eastern standard time Thursday, August 6, 2020.  All responses received by the closing date of this synopsis will be considered by the Government.  A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.