Solicitation: HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-NOI-17-621

Title: Human RNA Sequencing Kits

INTRODUCTION
PURSUANT TO FAR Subpart 5.2-Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF A PROPOSED CONTRACT TO ACTION.

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME).

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support Contracts and Simplified Acquisitions Branch (SS/SA) on behalf of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) intends to negotiate and award a contract for the Human RNA Sequencing Kits with Illumina, Incorporated at 5200 Illumina Way, San Diego, CA 92122.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541380 - Testing Laboratories with a Size Standard of $15.0 Million.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY
The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses of the Federal acquisition Requlation (FAR) in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 05-95, January 19, 2017.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c) under provisions of the statutory authority of FAR Subpart 6.302-1 - Only one response source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

Project Description
Automated robotic sequencing systems require the use of proprietary reagents to ensure efficient operation and the desired outcomes of the operating systems. LNG has purchased through competitive procedures a number of genotyping and sequencing systems which have a proven platform for genetic analysis and functional genomics. Each of the systems requires the use of reagents and consumables to ensure efficient operation and the desired outcomes of the operating systems. Reagents are chemicals and enzymes used to perform an assay or research sequencing methodology. All reagents must be compatible with, and optimally perform in the manufactured systems. LNG uses standardized protocols with the existing LNG equipment and there are additional protocols in process and at the development stage.

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this acquisition is to provide supplies to the Laboratory of Neurogenetics for neurodegenerative disease research for the purpose of sequencing human RNA samples on manufactured sequencing systems. These reagents will be used to identify causative genes for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia. Specifically, HiSeq® PE Cluster Kit v4, HiSeq® SBS Kit v4 (250 Cycle) TruSeq Stranded Total RNA Library Prep Kit, PhiX CONTROL V3 KIT.

Delivery Schedule
Within one (1) week after receipt of order (ARO).

CLOSING STATEMENT
This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice.

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 price proposal must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount.

Salient characteristics:
• Kits need to be compatible with Illumina HiSeq 2500 Sequencing Robots.
• HiSeq® PE Cluster Kit v4 - cBot
o Maximum Output - Up to 1000 Gb per dual flow cell run
o Maximum Reads per run - Up to 4 billion
o System Copmatibility - HiSeq 1500, HiSeq 2000, HiSeq 2500
o Reagent Type - Sequencing by Synthesis
o Technology - Sequencing
• HiSeq® SBS Kit v4 (250 Cycle) Maximum Output - Up to 1000 Gb per dual flow cell run
o Maximum Reads per run - Up to 4 billion
o System Copmatibility - HiSeq 1500, HiSeq 2000, HiSeq 2500
o Reagent Type - Sequencing by Synthesis
o Technology - Sequencing
• TruSeq Stranded Total RNA Library Prep Kit
o Input Quantity-0.1 - 1 ug high-quality total RNA. Lower-quality samples may require further optimization.
o Content Specifications-Captures coding RNA plus multiple forms of non-coding RNA
o Mechanism of Action-Bead-based rRNA depletion, cDNA synthesis, and PCR
o Multiplexing-Low-throughput kits: Pool up to 12 samples. Or pool up to 24 samples with sets A and B together., High-throughput kits: Prepare 96 uniquely indexed samples.
o System Compatibility-Genome Analyzer IIx, HiSeq 1000, HiSeq 1500, HiSeq 2000, HiSeq 2500, HiSeq 3000, HiSeq 4000, NextSeq 500, NextSeq 550, NovaSeq 5000, NovaSeq 6000
o Variant Class-Gene Fusions, Novel Transcripts, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), Transcript Variants
o Specialized Sample Types-FFPE
o Method-Whole-Transcriptome Sequencing
o Species-Human, Mouse, Rat
o Technology-Sequencing
o Automation Capability-Liquid Handling Robots

• PhiX CONTROL V3 KIT
o Small-PhiX is a small genome, which enables quick alignment and estimation of error rates.
o Diverse-The PhiX genome contains approximately 45% GC and 55% AT.
o Well-Defined-PhiX has a well-defined genome sequence. Illumina cluster generation algorithms are optimized around a balanced representation of A, T, G, and C nucleotides.

Quantity:
HiSeq® PE Cluster Kit v4 - cBot QTY: Two (2)
HiSeq® SBS Kit v4 (250 Cycle), QTY: Two (2)
TruSeq Stranded Total RNA Library Prep Kit QTY: Two (2)
PhiX CONTROL V3 KIT, QTY: One (1)

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 offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov."
A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.

All responses must be received by Thursday, August 31, 2017 at 12PM, Eastern Standard Time, and reference number HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-NOI-17-621. Responses may be submitted electronically to Danielle R. Brown, Contract Specialist, at [email protected] and [email protected].

Fax responses will not be accepted.

Please contact Danielle R. Brown, Contract Specialist, at [email protected] or (301) 594-1928 with any questions.