SPECIAL NOTICE
B -- EIC LABS
- Notice Date
- 8/14/2009
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541380
— Testing Laboratories
- Contracting Office
- Department of Veterans Affairs;VA Boston Healthcare System;Contracting Officer (90C);940 Belmont Street;Brockton MA 02301
- ZIP Code
- 02301
- Archive Date
- 10/13/2009
- Point of Contact
- Robert O'Leary 774-826-3003<br />
- E-Mail Address
-
Contracting Specialist
(robert.oleary@va.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The Department of Veterans Affairs VA Boston Healthcare System has a requirement for a contractor to conduct the following tasks in support of the effort at the Center for Innovative Visual Rehabilitation. It is the governments intention to solicit and negotiate only with this source. Please refer to the sole source justification. This is not a solicitation; it is a notice of intent to sole source a requirement. *1. Identification of the service/department and the transaction/requisition #: The VA Boston Healthcare System (VABHS) Center for Innovative Visual Rehabilitation (CIVR) is developing bioengineering therapies to improve the quality of life of visually impaired patients. The core mission of the CIVR is to develop a retinal prosthesis that will be used to enhance vision and improve quality of life for persons with retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration *2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved: The Boston VA Center for Innovative Visual Rehabilitation has requested a contract with EIC Laboratories. *3. Description of the supplies/services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value): Contract with EIC Laboratories and the VABHS CIVR at Jamaica Plain. The purpose of this contract is to provide research to identify and characterize specialized coatings suitable for use in an subretinal prostheses currently under development by the CIVR, and to conduct long-term electrochemical stability testing and chronic in vivo stability testing of the coatings incorporated into subretinal, multielectrode arrays. These coatings will be further evaluated at EIC Laboratories by accelerated in vitro testing. The total cost of the services provided under this contract will be: First Period - Oct. 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, 442 hours @ $140.85/ Hr. = $62,256; Option Period 1 - April 1, 2010 to September 30, 2010, 442 Hours @ $140.85/Hr. = $62,256; Option Period 2 - October 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, 660 Hours @ $142.04/Hr. = $93,747. 4. Identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: FAR Part 6.302-1, Only one responsible source. *5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited: The development of the retinal prosthesis that is the core mission of the CIVR is contingent upon developing a suitable electrode coating for future human implantation. In the area of electrode coatings there is no other manufacturer that can deliver the required quality of iridium electrode coatings for the implantable retinal prosthesis. EIC Laboratories is the sole inventor of Iridium Oxide electrode coatings, and of amorphous silicon carbide and silicon oxycarbide coatings for implantable medical devices. There is no manufacturer that can deliver the quality of iridium oxide and silicon carbide/oxycarbide coatings nor is there any manufacturer or research entity capable of customizing the coating properties to optimize their performance for retinal prostheses. EIC laboratories is uniquely equipped to carry out the coating depositions and to conduct the highly specialized electrochemical and stability measurements required to ensure the long-term function of multielectrode arrays in a retinal prosthesis. *6. Describe the efforts that have been made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a Commerce Business Daily notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 (copy attached) and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies: The following vendors were contacted, however were unable to provide these services: 1.MicroConnex, Inc. of Snoqualmie, WA (Tel: 425-396-5707) was briefly considered, but was rejected because of having very little experience depositing the iridium oxide films we needed. The following long-time CIVR collaborators/vendors do not have the expertise in-house to provide the service: 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2. Boston University 3. Cornell Microfabrication Laboratory 7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable: *8. Description of the market survey that was conducted (i.e. names of firms and the date(s) the firms were contacted) and the results or a statement of the reasons a market survey was not conducted: CIVR researchers and collaborators, including Dr. Joseph Rizzo (CIVR Director), Dr. John Wyatt (MIT), and Dr. Douglas B. Shire (CIVR Engineering Manager), conducted a nationwide search for the highest quality and most reliable elements to use in retinal prosthesis electrode designs. EIC Laboratories is a premier company for the development and study of electrode materials for biological applications. EIC Laboratories is the sole inventor and patent holder of Iridium Oxide electrode coatings (patent # 4677989), and of amorphous silicon carbide and silicon oxycarbide coatings (patent # 5755759) for implantable medical devices. These are considered the gold standard in their respective roles as electrode coatings. For these reasons, a market survey was not conducted. *9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as - an explanation as to why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statement of work, or purchase descriptions suitable for competition have not been developed or are not available. EIC Laboratories is the only company that holds the patent for the Iridium Oxide Coatings, which is considered the gold standard in electrode coatings in biological applications. Patent number is: 4677989. EIC Laboratories maintains proprietary thin-film processing technology for iridium oxide and silicon carbide coatings that cannot be duplicated by other suppliers. * 10. A Iisting of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in the acquisition: See #6 *11. A statement of the actions, if any, that the department/service may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies/services is required in the future: POC Robert OLeary Contracting Specialist Fax 774-826-3347 Robert.oleary@vagov
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