SOMASCAN PROTEIN BIOMARKER DISCOVERY ASSAY ANALYSIS TESTING SERVICE

This notice is a Notice of Intent.  (NOI). This notice is published in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.101(a)(1) requiring the dissemination of information regarding proposed contract actions. This is a Notice of Intent to award a Sole Source Firm-Fixed Price Contract under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), as implemented by FAR 13.106-1(b) – Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Service Will Satisfy Agency Requirements and is not a request for competitive quotes.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH Clinical Center, intends to award a firm-fixed price sole source contract to Somalogic, Inc 2945 Wilderness Place, Boulder, CO 80301  

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Center for Human Immunology (CHI) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Soma Logic Inc., 2945 Wilderness Place Boulder, CO 80301 for: 
1)    SomaScan Discovery delivering v4.1 7k protein measurements CATALOG # SomaScan v4.1 QTY: 100 
2)    Domestic Shipping and Handling – FOB DESTINATION TO BETHESDA, MD 20814

Justification for sole source: The overall purpose of this request is to identify CD8+ T cell-derived anti-HIV factors that mediate suppression of viral replication ex vivo in infected individuals we have been following for over two decades (our long-standing clinical and research project in the area of HIV/AIDS Patongoing research project titled “Role of Viral Reservoirs in Pathogenesis of HIV Disease” (Z01-AI000851-05)). Somalogic is the approved source to continue on-going experiments and clinical trial. No other variables can be integrated to protect the validity and integrity of these on going clinical trials.

If a capability statement is submitted the following must be addressed.   
The SomaScan Assay has been deployed for the discovery of biomarkers in biospecimens that are sent to SomaLogic, Inc. laboratories. The close to 7,000 targets in the assay represent proteins including cytokines, growth factors, receptors, proteases, protease inhibitors, kinases, structural proteins, and hormones known to be important in human diseases. Previous protein biomarker discovery efforts have been limited by technical constraints associated with alternative technologies. None of these competing techniques can match the combination of measuring 7,000 analytes with the sensitivity, reproducibility, and throughput of the SomaScan Assay using only 35 μL of plasma or serum. Lastly, the SomaScan Assay includes analysis by expert bioinformaticians, trained and experienced in biomarker discovery using proprietary bioinformatic approaches developed by SomaLogic. 

This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR Part 13.501(a)(1).

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 1901 (a) (1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1 only one responsible source and no other supply of service will satisfy agency requirements. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.  All responsible sources that could provide comparable services may submit a capability statement that will be considered by email (subject line to reference NOI-NIAID-2181519) to Diana Rohlman at diana.rohlman@nih.gov, by 4:00 pm eastern standard time, July 31, 2023.  All responses received by the closing date of this synopsis will be considered by the Government.  A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.