88 -- Primary Animal Production and Support Center

The Biological Testing Branch of the Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment, Diagnosis and Centers, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), is seeking an organization with the capabilities and facilities for operating a Primary Animal Production and Support Center. The primary tasks to be completed will be the production of pathogen free laboratory animals and the operation of a repository which will provide support for the cryopreservation and storage of rodent foundation stock. To be considered for award of a contract, the following Mandatory Qualification Criteria must be met at the time of proposal submission to the Contracting Officer: a) In accordance with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) policies, administered by the Veterinary Resources Program, all laboratory animals delivered to the National Institutes of Health campus, NCI at Frederick, and NIH contract laboratories within the Washington, DC metropolitan area must be delivered in environmentally-controlled vehicles that are used exclusively for transporting laboratory animals. Animals delivered to the airport for shipment or delivered directly to the user’s facility from the contractor’s facility must be in environmentally controlled trucks. The contractor must be capable of obtaining proper paper/ clearances when requested to make foreign shipments. Shipping boxes used for the transport of laboratory animals must be escape proof and properly filtered to protect the animals from potential pathogens. All proposers must have documented experience in this procedure/practice; b) The colonies maintained under this contract shall be housed in a maximum barrier or isolator environments. If the animals are housed in the same room as commercial animals they must be labeled and identified in a manner that clearly separates the government and commercial animals; and c) Animal monitoring shall be performed by in-house professional staff capable of monitoring all animal colonies for their health status at all locations where the contract would be performed. The in-house staff must also have the ability to test mice by means of biochemical markers and be capable of performing pathology/histology diagnostic services. Additionally, the Principal Investigator and other key personnel should have experience and expertise with rodent breeding procedures of inbred, outbred and hybrid colonies and with the production of the highest quality rodents and a willingness to participate in grantee reimbursement collections for surplus animals. The Government anticipates the award of a seven year performance based cost-reimbursement contract by September 26, 2006. The applicable NAICS code is 112990 and the small business size standard is $750,000. The solicitation (RFP N02-CM-62401-96) will be available approximately 15 days after this synopsis is issued at the following address: http://web.ncifcrf.gov/about/mosb.asp (please click on current RFPs to access). Only electronic copies of the solicitation are available. All breeding stock will be supplied by the Government. The Government reserves the right to change strains/stocks if need be once the contract is in effect. Any responsible Offeror may submit a proposal which will be considered by the Government. This advertisement does not commit the Government to award a contract. No collect calls will be accepted.