SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- NIH Small Molecule Repository
- Notice Date
- 9/1/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541711
— Research and Development in Biotechnology
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Mental Health, Contracts Management Branch, 6001 Executive Blvd, Rm 8154, MSC 9661, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-9661
- ZIP Code
- 20892-9661
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NIDA-SBSS-11-001
- Archive Date
- 10/7/2011
- Point of Contact
- Craig D. Sager, Phone: 301-443-1193, Bruce E. Anderson, Phone: 301-443-2234
- E-Mail Address
-
csager@mail.nih.gov, banderso@mail.nih.gov
(csager@mail.nih.gov, banderso@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. Teaming and partnering arrangements among small businesses is encouraged. Background. The NIH Small Molecule Repository (SMR) was developed as part of the NIH Common Fund Molecular Libraries Program, with the goals of identifying, acquiring, maintaining, and distributing a collection of chemically diverse compounds with known and unknown biological activities for use in high-throughput screening (HTS). These compounds are intended to serve as starting material for the development of chemical probes to explore basic biology, as well as leads for therapeutics development. The SMR currently supports the nine screening centers that form the ML Probe Production Centers Network (MLPCN). The SMR will continue to support the MLPCN centers, and, as part of NIH's continuing efforts to support translational science, will be made available more broadly, to support other NIH screening and translational efforts, as well as selected extramural groups conducting HTS for probe and drug discovery. Purpose and Objectives. NIMH is seeking information on all small businesses capable of providing contract services for a project entitled: NIH Small Molecule Repository. Sources must have the requisite capabilities and qualifications to maintain, operate, and potentially expand the NIH Small Molecule Repository (SMR), over a 5-year period, to support both NIH screening efforts as well as the broader scientific community. The SMR currently contains approximately 385,000 compounds, and it is anticipated that it may grow up to ~650,000 compounds. Project requirements. The NIMH is seeking small businesses that can provide a full range of compound management services as described below. Interested small businesses must demonstrate they currently have the necessary expertise, equipment and capacity in place to manage and operate the NIH Small Molecule Repository (SMR), which consists of ~385,000 compounds ( ~470,000 samples solubilized in DMSO, stored in.7mL microtubes and ~~412,000 samples stored neat in 4mL glass vials). Interested small businesses must also demonstrate they have a reasonable plan to provide for expansion of the repository collection during the project, if requested to do so, up to an estimated upper limit of 650,000 compounds. While the ultimate size of the NIH repository is unknown, the ability to provide for expanded capacity is important to the Government. Operation of this resource requires the following capabilities and capacities: 1. Storage and maintenance of 385,000 to 650,000 compounds In both neat and solubilized formats 2. Library development - providing all necessary expertise and capabilities to assess the compound collection to identify gaps and areas to expand or reduce, and to create thematic subsets of the collection 3. Large scale quality control assessment (e.g., quantity, solubility, purity, and identity) to support regular assessment of the library over time, as well assessment of all newly acquired compounds. 4. Plating and distribution of the collection to a wide network of customers with the capability of providing: a. 96, 384, 1536 well format plating; The ability to plate the full SMR compound collection in 384 and 1536 well format b. Multiple plate types and well-arrangements c. High volume, rapid cherry-picking d. Custom and standard sets e. Multi-use, single-use, and dose-response plating 5. Plating capacity to provide annually up to: a. 10-20 copies of the full compound collection b. 75-150 pre-selected subsets (approx. 15,000-50,000 compounds/set) c. 50-75 custom subsets (approx. 15,000-30,000 compounds/set) d. 150-250 small hit follow-up cherry pick orders (50-200 compounds/order) e. 150-250 large hit follow-up cherry pick orders (>1500 compounds/order) 6. Compound acquisition, including both commercial acquisition and acquisitions from academic collaborators 7. Disaster Recovery - including physical storage of a disaster recovery copy of the library, management of an operational disaster recovery plan to rapidly restore SMR function, and data backup and recovery 8. Data management, including cheminformatics, library management, interfacing with NIH and customer databases, accepting and providing data in multiple formats 9. Project management Other important considerations. All equipment and resources must be in place and available for start- up - the Government will not provide resources or funds to build an infrastructure to operate the current SMR. However, the Government will consider providing funding for new storage and retrieval equipment necessary for expansion of the repository or repair/replacement of current equipment. While the strong preference is for sources to purchase all equipment and take title, with costs distributed to customers through indirect rates, the following exceptions will be made: 1. The more portable equipment (like plating/handling equipment) may be proposed for purchase by the Government, and be Government-titled; 2. Storage equipment which is not portable must be purchased by the source and (if allowable and appropriate) capital expenditures recovered through Government reimbursement as a direct cost through depreciation/monthly usage charges. Either of the above may be proposed as part of the expansion plan; sources will not be discounted if the equipment and resources needed for expansion are not currently available, or if it is proposed that the Government will provide a source of funding for such equipment. Be advised that sources which can provide all their own resources for this project would be considered more competitive in any future best value source selection process during a potential competition. Any Government-titled equipment must be 100% dedicated to this project. Anticipated period of performance. The estimated period of performance is July 2012 - July 2017 Capability statement /information sought. Any small business that believes it has the capability to fulfill this requirement should submit a narrative response indicating previous experience and capabilities related to this work. You are encouraged to limit you response to fewer than 15 pages and must specifically address each of the requirement specific items stated below. Generic marketing brochures will not be considered further. Capability statements should clearly state/describe your ability, experience, and resources to design and carry out the range of compound management services above, including: (1) Staff expertise that would be working on this project, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training (2) Your in-house capacity to provide compound management support for a collection of at least 385,000 compounds with a broad set of customers; a disaster recovery plan and capabilities are also needed (3) Your immediately available capacity for compound storage, plating, and distribution (see necessary capabilities and capacities detailed above); (4) Your ability to provide resources, equipment and facilities to expand the collection size during the project, including compound acquisition and library development experience. (Note: provide a list of current equipment, with model numbers, age and working condition, and a plan to provide additional equipment to expand the repository.) (5) Prior completed projects of similar nature (6) Your business size (number of employees and gross annual revenue), your eligibility under 8(a) or other set-aside programs, as applicable (note: the applicable NAICS code for this requirement is 541711, 500 employees); and (7) Your management structure, history of your organization (e.g., number of years in business and DUNS #) Disclaimer and Important Notes. Please note that in order to qualify as an eligible small business for purposes of a small business set-aside, at least 50% of the direct labor cost must be in-house. Specifically, FAR 52.219-14 - Limitations on Subcontracting, states that at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Responses will be held in a confidential manner. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. If the Government decides to issue a solicitation, a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be available solely via the FEDBIZOPPS web page at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. It will be the offeror's responsibility to monitor the FEDBIZOPPS web page for the release of any solicitation and amendments, and to download the RFP and all attachments. Responses to this notice should be received no later than the posted due date, and can be sent either by mail, fax, or e-mail (csager@mail.nih.gov) to the point of contact listed. If using the U.S. Postal Service or commercial overnight services, please send an original plus five (5) copies of your response. Note: for commercial overnight services, use the Rockville, MD. 20852 address. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIMH/HHS-NIH-NIDA-SBSS-11-001/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02559713-W 20110903/110902102917-fb414c1f37c6eca1b08d0cee615daa06 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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