INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION. The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD), in support of the work of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry intends to award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition to Elizabeth Blackburn Laboratory, University of California San Francisco San Francisco, 600 16th Street, Room S316 Genentech Hall, San Francisco, CA 94143 to Prospective Study of Telomere Length Dynamics and Type 2 Diabetes Related Outcomes. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541380 with a Size Standard $15.0 M. REGULATORY AUTHORITY The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Circular (FAC) 2020-07 effective 07-02-2020. This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000) and FAR Subpart 12- Acquisition of Commercial Items. STATUTORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements. Place of Performance National Institutes of Health 1550 E. Indian School Road Phoenix, AZ 85014 United States DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT To measure genome-telomere length in peripheral blood from participants in DECRS studies for analyses of how these measurements are related to development of type 2 diabetes. The telomere length assays will be conducted by DECRS collaborators at the Blackburn lab at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Previous telomere length studies of DECRS samples have been conducted by the UCSF group using the same assay, so assays by the same group using these Illumina reagents will be comparable to, and can be combined with, those from previous studies. The contractor shall provide the following: Telomere length is associated with ageing with shorter lengths indicating greater biological age. Telomere length in leukocytes has been associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and adiposity related traits in some studies (including some in American Indians) but not in all studies. However, most of these studies are based on cross-sectional data and, thus, are unable to examine the causal relationships. The Diabetes Epidemiology and Clinical Research Section conducted a longitudinal study of types 2 diabetes and related conditions in the Pima Indians from Arizona, Prospective Studies of Diabetes Mellitus and its Complications in the Gila River Indian Community). In this study, we have collected DNA samples at numerous time points, and such samples are suitable for longitudinal studies of telomere length dynamics. We propose to measure telomere length in 3790 nodiabetic individuals who have had suitable DNA samples and follow-up information (2830 additional individuals with this acquisition). This will be among the largest studies of telomere length dynamics. This study will offer a unique opportunity to examine several important questions: 1) whether telomere length is a cause or consequence of T2D; and 3) given the wide age span of our study subjects, whether the telomere length effect on T2D outcomes varies by age. The assay (Q-PCR) is the most commonly method for measuring telomere length. We plan to have our samples analyzed by the developer of the method (University of California, San Francisco), whose lab is one of very few in the world to produce high quality results at a high capacity, Dr. Blackburn, a Nobel Laureate, has a well-established track record in studies of telomere biology. Telomere length assays of comparable quality and cost are available through few, if any, other laboratories. Since Dr Blackburn’s laboratory has performed these assays previously on a subset of the final sample, it is important to use the same assay to allow combination with the previous work. This will allow for examination of the relationship between telomere length and incidence of diabetes, and understanding this will advance the mission of PECRB. CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND- NAME) DETERMINATION The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10—Market Research. Only one source is available: Per FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) the Contracting Officer has determined that it is important that the laboratory use the same collaborator used in previous DECRS telomere length studies, so we can obtain comparable results, and potentially conduct combined analyses. This contractor was used for previous studies, only this contractor can provide data that can be combined with previous data. CLOSING STATEMENT This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement, unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov .” A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses to this notice shall be submitted electronically by 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, on July 16, 2020 to
[email protected], please reference NICHD-20-151 in the subject line. Assessment of Capability The contractor will be evaluated on their capability to provide the product to the specifications as stated on the solicitation.