The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to award a sole source firm fixed price purchase order to Life Technologies for special gene-ex, conf4 (TAC cards).  The TaqMan Array Cards (TAC) are 384-well microfluidic cards which will be produced as a custom product using CDC-developed oligonucleotides for amplification of nucleic acid from pathogens of interest. These TACs are used at international partner laboratories to support pathogen surveillance and outbreak response activities. The TAC cards are custom microfluidic arrays containing 20-40 CDC developed PCR assays and have been used by CDC for over 10 years. Evaluations of lab-created and clinical specimens have demonstrated that TAC has similar sensitivity and specificity to individual PCR reactions, while its format allows for PCR reactions for ~ 20-40 pathogens from 6 patient specimens plus 2 controls at one time. TAC allows for broad pathogen testing with sufficient throughput and turnaround time to enable rapid response to disease clusters or outbreaks and serves as a critically important tool for monitoring local and regional disease surveillance trends.

Based on successful use of this product for other surveillance projects, it was selected for use in the pathogen surveillance in Uganda. Continued use of this custom product is required for continuity of specimen testing in accordance with Uganda program-specific surveillance protocols and funding sources.

This contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (SAP) and 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1).. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, all quotations/responses received within three (3) days of the issuance of this notice will be considered by the government.  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.  Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.  Any quotation/response should be emailed to William Brannen at [email protected] by 2:00 P.M. EST., December 19, 2019.