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Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) are an official government contracting resource for small businesses. Find your local PTAC (opens in new window) for free government expertise related to contract opportunities.

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; (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition; and (4) availability of domestic sources manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and of a satisfactory quality.

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.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Purpose and Objectives:

National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke (NINDS), Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Section (MPBS) requires the services of a contractor to obtain camelid animal husbandry, injection, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) / ribonucleic acid (RNA) harvesting service for nanobody generation.

Background:

Nanobody is a single-domain antibody that are found only in a few species of animal such as the camelids (alpaca, llama, camels for example). Like whole antibodies, nanobody is capable of binding selectively to a specific antigen and sometimes with even more robust affinity. Due to their smaller size, they are easier to isolate, and mass produced in bulk.

The NINDS MPBS Laboratory require nanobodies generated against two-ion channel proteins of interest. These nanobodies would be used for stabilizing the proteins for structural studies. MPBS would also test if some of the nanobodies could affect the functions of these proteins using functional studies and in the long term to pull down complexes from native tissues to study protein-protein interactions.

Commercially available antibodies against these two-ion channel proteins have been purchased and tested. As seen from all literature searched and data reported so far, none of the commercially available antibodies show robust or good enough binding capacity to our two proteins of interest.

Therefore, MPBS will attempt to generate nanobodies from camelids which have been widely reported in literature as having more robust affinity.

The vendor/contractor with a USDA and NIH approved camelid farm (with assurance numbers provided) that can immunize the animal (one alpaca and one llama) for nanobody generation is required for this project.

All veterinary care, injections and husbandry and blood collection will be performed by the vendor/contractor. MPBS will be provided with the pre- and post-immunized serum. From the final serum, the vendor/contractor will perform the RNA extraction from PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells). After such time, MPBS will be provided with RNA to generate cDNA from the RNA samples for constructing a phage display library and searching for nanobodies that have robust binding to the two ion channel proteins of interest.

Project requirements:

The vendor/contractor shall provide all husbandry, animal housing, veterinary care, blood/serum collection, PBMC isolation and RNA isolation from one alpaca and one llama for the purpose of nanobody generation. This includes 5 immunizations, 1 pre-immune bleed (~10ml serum), 1 test bleed (~10ml serum), 2 production bleeds (500ml whole blood), total IgG serum titer ELISA testing of all bleeds, IgG 2_3 serum titer ELISA testing of final bleed. For PBMC isolation, 2 production bleeds (> 1x107 cells/each production bleeds) are required and then preservation of PBMC cells for RNA purification.

Anticipated period of performance: Four (4) to Six (6) months. September 2023 through March 2024.

Other important considerations: In case domestic sources are available and capable of fulfilling the Government’s need, and a future solicitation is published, the Government will use evaluation preferences in accordance with FAR 25.

Capability statement /information sought.

Companies that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Capability statements must also include the Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

Interested companies are required to identify their Unique Entity Identification Number, type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number.

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.

The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.

The response is limited to ten (10) page limit. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Acquisition Official(s). Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Debra C. Hawkins, at e-mail address debra.hawkins@nih.gov .

The response must be received on or before August 14, 2023, 3:30 p.m., Eastern Time.

“Disclaimer and Important Notes: 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. 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 www.sam.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

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).”

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