THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY, NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE OR SOLICITATION. The Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson Laboratories, in Jefferson, Arkansas, is seeking business sources, including service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, and 8(a) certified companies. The following information is provided to assist the FDA in conducting Market Research to identify potential contractors for this effort:

The government is seeking capability statements from companies that are capable of performing deep mRNA-Seq sequencing of 165 human RNA samples using an Illumina Genome Analyzer II with 36 cycles and each sample is to be sequenced in one lane. The government will provide for each sample 5-10 µg of high quality total RNA. The service is to include sample preparation for total RNA and sequencing. The vendor must be technically experienced with the sequencing technology and able to generate data of quality consistent with the vendor's specification.

The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is-541711- Research and Development in Biotechnology; Small Business Size Standard is 500 employees.

Potential contractors must indicate business size, proof of any set-aside certification and company's DUNS number and provide a contact name, the mailing address, phone number and email address of point of contact. Capability statements must provide enough information to determine if the company can meet the requirement. Potential contractors are to provide a statement of coverage of the plan being offered. At a minimum provide the following:
Reference similar work that has been performed by the contractor in the last three (3) years, a description of the work performed and contact information for references knowledgeable about the quality of the work completed. Capability statement must provide estimated cost per sample for this work.

Interested Contractors must respond with capability statements which are due in person, by postal mail, fax or email to the point of contact listed below on or before June 10, 2009 by 13:00 hours (Central Time in Jefferson, Arkansas) at the Food and Drug Administration, OC/OSS/OFFAS, Attn: Nick Sartain, 3900 NCTR Road, HFT-320, Jefferson, AR 72079-9502. Reference solicitation number FDA1058265.

For information regarding this request for information, please contact Nick Sartain at (870) 543-7370, FAX (870) 543-7990 or email [email protected].