The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as cited in FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i). The MiSeq Sequencer System performs to our required standard which is to have less than 0.1% error in reading through homopolymer runs (less than 0.1 indel error per 100bp). The MiSeq Sequencer System can read through polymer runs with very low error rate. The sequences produced by this instrument will be used for sequencing of wild type poliovirus isolates and vaccine-derived poliovirus specimens of programmatic importance, so high accuracy is a requirement for this project. The MiSeq Sequencer is the only instrument that produces draft genome sequences that have >90% probability of containing full length sequences of clinically relevant proteins.

The NAICS code for this acquisition is 334516 and the small business size standard is 500 employees. Award will be made using Simplified Acquisition Procedures found in FAR Part 13.

Interested parties who feel they possess the expertise, experience and ability should submit a capabilities statement to Tonya S. Justice, Contract Specialist, via email at [email protected] or to Centers for Disease Control, Procurement and Grants Office, MS K-94, 2877 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341. Reference #2013-55774. Vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to an award of a federal contract. The website is: www.sam.gov.

The Government will review any/all capabilities statements and pricing information submitted and determine if other qualified sources do exist that could provide this requirement. Information received in response to this announcement will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement for these services and/or supplies in the future.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals, however, the Government shall consider all responses received within three (3) days of this posting, in accordance with FAR 5.203 (A)(1). If no affirmative responses are received within three (3) days, negotiations will be conducted with Illumina as the only source and a contract will be issued without any additional notices being posted.

A determination by the CDC not to compete this proposed contract, based upon responses to this notification, is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer.