SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ( SSN ) 36C10G-19-Q-0132 Cryopreservation of human embryos, sperm, and eggs THIS IS A SSN ONLY to identify sources that can provide the required services to meet the needs as identified herein. Please see FAR 5.201(c), FAR 19.501(c), and FAR subpart 7.3 for general information. Interested sources shall indicate that they are capable of providing the required services and must provide: (1) Full name and address of the firm; (2) DUNs number; (3) Size status (i.e., large business, small business, 8(a), HUBZone, service disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB)); (4) Self-verification of firm status, e.g., SB or SDVOSB, et cet.; (5) Gross dollars in Federal Contracts for FY2017 and 2018 regardless if cash accounting or accrual accounting method of accounting is used; (6) A complete and current copy of the firm s SAMS record, See www.sam.gov; (7) A written narrative, not to exceed two (2) pages, which would discuss/explain how your firm would handle all aspects of meeting Veterans/Family members, collecting specimens, shipping, processing, storage, release, and any other aspects involved Cryopreservation of human embryos, sperm, and eggs. DO NOT SUBMIT A PROPOSAL, BROCHURES OR ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AT THIS TIME. The information provided in this SSN is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. This SSN is issued solely for information and planning purposes it does not constitute a Request for Quote ( RFQ ) or a promise to issue an RFQ in the future. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this SSN; all costs associated with responding to this SSN will be solely at the interested party s expense. If a solicitation is released, a decision will be made to issue the same competitively or sole sourced and whether or not there will be any set-asides. All responses are due no later than October 4, 2019, (Friday) by 5 PM EST. Vendors shall send their submissions to both individuals identified below by email only: Mark Blevins at
[email protected] Contracting Officer, Procurement Division 7-C And James Modlin at
[email protected] Contract Specialist, Procurement Division 7-C Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics (OPAL) U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 10300 Spotsylvania Ave, Suite 400 Fredericksburg, VA 22408 Description: North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 621991 Blood and Organ Banks $32.5M Background Information: Cryopreservation of human embryos (and human sperm and eggs) from the 2-cell stage up to the morula stage is a safe procedure which has been carried out for the last 25 years. Experience with blastocyst cryopreservation is still limited and pregnancy rates after the use of frozen, thawed blastocysts vary extremely. Vitrification has improved the success of embryo cryopreservation. Further, Cryopreservation of human embryos is now a routine procedure in assisted reproductive technologies laboratories. There is no consensus on the superiority of any protocol, and substantial differences exist among centers in day of embryo cryopreservation, freezing method, selection criteria for which embryos to freeze, method of embryo thawing, and endometrial preparation for transfer of frozen-thawed embryos. In the past decade, the number of frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles per started in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle increased steadily, and at the same time the percentage of frozen-thawed embryo transfers that resulted in live births increased. Currently, cryopreservation of human embryos is more important than ever for the cumulative pregnancy rate after IVF. Success rates after frozen-thawed embryo transfer are now nearing the success rates of fresh embryo transfer. This includes freeze-all strategies in IVF, in which all embryos are frozen and no fresh transfer is conducted, to optimize success rates. Department of Veteran Affairs ( VA ) is seeking to better understand this technology and industry base. Further, the VA shall be offering to pay for these services to qualified Veteran applicants and Veteran Family members. To meet this need, the VA is seeking information from those vendors which provide Cryopreservation of human eggs, sperm, and embryos and other allied services. To facilitate industry-government partnership, the VA is seeking responses from qualified industry vendors who actually perform these services, and who would be interested in meeting at a VA location to participate in an industry day. This industry day will consist of all attendees participating in a Q&A session with VA personnel, and each vendor also having a one-on-one meeting with VA personnel to discuss its services and solution(s) to the VA s needs. A schedule of events and vendors would be provided in advance. The optimal period for this Industry Day would be the first half of October 2019. Location and date(s) would be provided by email approximately one (1) week in advance. Questions: Questions regarding this SSN shall only be submitted in writing by e-mail to
[email protected] and
[email protected]. Telephone calls will NOT be accepted. In the discretion of the Contracting Officer, questions may or may not be responded to.