INTRODUCTION
PURSUANT TO FAR Subpart 5.2-Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF A PROPOSED CONTRACT 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), Office of Acquisition, Contracts Management Branch Blue, NIA Section on behalf of the National Institute on Aging intends to negotiate and award a purchase order to the Johns Hopkins University to perform sequencing library preparation as well as deep sequencing using Illumina NexSeq.

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) 2019-05, dated August 13, 2019.

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 Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.
This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source.

Background and Objectives:
The proposed project will examine age-associated changes in gene expression and chromatin structure in primary human cell subsets isolated from peripheral blood. The goal for 2019/2020 is to carry out the analysis for 30 donors spanning the age-range from 20-80 years. Cytapheresis samples will be fractionated by a combination of magnetic bead purification and flow cytometry into 10 cell subsets. RNA isolated from each cell subset and total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) will be sequenced to identify age-associated changes and develop algorithms to de-convolute data from PBMC. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and DNase I hypersensitivity analysis will be carried out using antibodies directed against specific histone modifications and ATAC protocol, respectively. For these studies we will use only PBMC samples and the most abundant cell subsets to start with. Purified RNA and DNA from ChIP samples will be provided to the JHMI Deep Sequencing and Microarray Core for Hi-Seq analysis.

Additionally, we will carry out ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq studies to investigate the role of the transcription factor NF-kB in inflammatory gene expression during aging and immune activation.

The contractor will carry out sequencing library preparation as well as deep sequencing using Illumina NexSeq. The contractor will provide the government with FASTQ files of the data for computational analyses at NIA.

Project Requirements:
The contractor will prepare Illumina sequencing libraries from RNA, ChIP-Seq and ATAC-Seq experimental samples. Samples will be provided by the government and the contractor will carry out deep sequencing using Illumina NexSeq. Sequencing will entail either single-end reads of 75 bp length that will target approximately 400 million reads total or paired-end 75 bp reads targeting approximately 400 million reads total. FAST Q files of the data will be provided to the government for the further analyses.

Anticipated Period of Performance:
The anticipated period of performance is one year from the date of award. The estimated time frame of award is on/about September 15, 2019.

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. The technical proposal must include CV information for proposed Key Personnel that meet the minimum requirements specified above.

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 Friday, August 23, 2019 at 3:00 PM Eastern Time and must reference number 75N95019R00072.

Responses must be submitted electronically to Scott Bredow at [email protected]. Fax responses will not be accepted.

"All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency."