23-011179

This acquisition is being conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and FAR Part 12- Acquisition of Commercial Items, and the resultant contract award will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2023-04 dated June 2, 2023.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), Intramural Research Program (IRP), RNA Regulation Section of the Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics (LGG) Functional Epigenomics Unit collects biopsies of the human liver from both young and old patients, some of whom also have hepatocellular carcinoma. The goal is to investigate the epigenetic changes that occur with age and with cancer using the paired-tag sequencing method. 

The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

There are twelve (12) assays for four (4) samples, and three (3) marks. If there are insufficient nuclei for the design, the contractor will seek government approval for the experiment to proceed. Five (5) DNA and five (5) RNA Paired-Tag sub-libraries, consisting of approximately 5,000 cells each, will be prepared, evaluated for size distribution, and provided to government within forty (40) days of the vendor’s receipt of the complete sample set. These steps will be sequential. Any unused samples will be returned to the government. 

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES: 

The government will provide human liver samples and instructions for efficient nuclei preparation which is the first step in the process. 

Government will be shipping human liver samples to the vendor and reviewing data.

Specimens provided to vendor will be de-identified.

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES: 

Samples will be sent to the vendor for paired-tag sequencing.

The DNA libraries will be shipped back to the NIA for sequencing.

Any unused samples will be returned to the government. 

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

Library concentrations reports will be provided by the vendor to the NIA. 

DATA RIGHTS:  The National Institute on Aging shall have unlimited rights to, and ownership of all deliverables provided under this contract including reports, recommendations, briefings, work plans and all other deliverables. This includes the deliverables provided under the basic contract and any optional task deliverables exercised by the contracting officer. In addition, it includes any additional deliverables required by contract change. The definition of “unlimited rights” is contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 27.401, “Definitions.” FAR clause 52.227-14, “Rights in Data-General,” is hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of this contract/order.

Contract Type: A Firm Fixed Price type order award not exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold is anticipated to be awarded resulting from this requirement.

Summary Statement:

The Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), certification of country of ownership, and the certification of business size must be included in the response.

All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) "www.sam.gov."

Quoter Terms and Conditions (To be completed by the Offeror):

 1. Period of Performance OR Delivery Date After Receipt of Order:

 2. Shipping Point (F.O.B. OR Destination):

 3. Payment Discount Terms:

 4. NIH BPA Number, if applicable:

 5. SAM UEI Number:

 6. Name of Company:

 7. Street Address, City, State, Zip code:

 8. Name of Person Authorized to Provide Quote:

 9. Telephone Number and Email Address of Person Authorized to Provide Quote:

For equipment/parts/supply requirements under this requirement, if applicable, responses must include: the place of manufacturing (i.e., address if supply/equipment is a domestic end product and include country of manufacture).

ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, PROVISIONS, AND REPRESENTATIONS

 The FAR Clauses are incorporated by reference and are provided in full text at https://www.acquisition.gov/:

 1. FAR Provision 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Mar 2023) is applicable to this solicitation.

 2. FAR Provision 52.212.2 Evaluation-Commercial Items (Nov 2021) is applicable to this solicitation. The Government will evaluate quotations or offers in accordance with FAR 13.106-2 and award a purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate quotes: Technical capability of the item offered to meet the Government requirement; Price; and Past performance [see FAR 13.106-2(b)(3)]

 3. FAR Provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items (Dec 2022), is applicable to this solicitation.

 4. FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (Dec 2022) is applicable to this solicitation.

 5. FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (June 2023) is applicable to this solicitation.

6.  FAR Clause 52.227-14, Rights in Data-General

In addition, the following FAR provisions and clauses are applicable to this solicitation and incorporated by reference:

 1. 52.204-7 System for Award Management (Oct 2018),

 2. 52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018),

 3. FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020),

 4. 52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020),

 5. HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015).

 6. FAR 52.204-27, Prohibition on a ByteDance Covered Application (Jun 2023)

 The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are available as an attachment. Offerors MUST complete the provision at 52.204-24 and 52.204-26 and submit completed copies as separate documents with their quotation.

 1. FAR 52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)

 2. FAR 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)

 3. FAR 52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services Representation (Oct 2020) 3. NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions

 4. NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions 

All responses must be received by 9/18/2023, at 9AM EST and must reference announcement/solicitation number 23-011179. Responses may be submitted electronically to Randall Carter (Randall.carter@nih.gov).  Fax responses will not be accepted.

All responsible sources may submit response which, if timely received, must be considered by the agency.”