his notice is being published in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 5.101(a)(2) requiring the dissemination of information on proposed contract actions expected to exceed $15,000, but not expected to exceed $25,000. This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract to Taconic Biosciences Gmbh and is not a request for competitive proposals. 

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 and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.  Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures and at a dollar value less than the simplified acquisition threshold are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements.

Single-sole Source Determination:

The determination by the Government to make a single-sole source is based upon the market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10—Market Research, specifically the results of the market research concluded that this order is for large fragement knockin mouse service offered by Taconic Biosciences Gmbh. Researchers in the Stem Cell Biochemistry Unit at the NIDCR seek to understand the molecular basis of VEXAS syndrome, a severe late-onset autoinflammatory disease caused by somatic mutations in UBA1. To date, there is no available treatment for this disease, largely due to the fact that there is no suitable model system to study the molecular origin of the disease. To overcome this limitation and find treatment options for VEXAS syndrome, we seek to acquire mice that carry conditional knock-in alleles of VEXAS mutations. Generation of such mice requires large-fragment knock-in into the essential gene UBA1, which renders this a laborious and difficult process. The Taconic/Cyagen Model Generation Alliance is the ideal supplier to tackle such a challenging project, as it has ample experience in such large knock-in projects, has developed a strategy for model generation that fulfills all of our needs, is the only supplier that guarantees delivery of knock-in founders. Market research on the internet only resulted in Taconic/Cyagen as a provider for large fragment knockin mice service. Using another company would require months of additional experiments and thus result in additional cost to the government.

Contractor requirements:

Mouse Uba1 Conditional Knockin Project (CRISPR/Cas) (C57BL/6NTac

The nuclease mRNA and any locus large-fragment vector will be co-injected into fertilized mouse eggs,
followed by implantation of the eggs into surrogate mothers to obtain offspring. Contractor shall inject as many
eggs and/or target as many sites as needed to fulfill the guarantee.

Deliverable: Locus Large-fragment Knockin Founders and Nuclease Injection Report.

Period of performance: 18 weeks after award

Closing Statement:

This notice is not a request for competitive proposals.  However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice.  Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. 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 action 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.  

FAR 52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Aug 2020)

FAR 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment. (Aug 2020)

All responses must be received by September 3, 2021 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.  Responses may be submitted electronically to [email protected] NIDCR 6701 Democracy Blvd., DEM 1, Room 675 Bethesda, MD 20892  Attention: Jimmy Sanders.  Fax responses will not be accepted.

“All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.”