SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- TESTING SERVICES FOR HERITABILITY STUDY: TEST 15 COMPOUNDS (+ VEHICLE CONTROL) ACROSS 16 DO NPC CELL LINES IN REPLICATE STUDIES
- Notice Date
- 1/11/2016
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541380
— Testing Laboratories
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Office of Acquisitions, Office of Management, 530 Davis Drive, Durham, North Carolina, 27713, United States
- ZIP Code
- 27713
- Solicitation Number
- NIEHS2016NOI002
- Archive Date
- 2/5/2016
- Point of Contact
- Onyenauché Washington, Phone: (919) 541-0423
- E-Mail Address
-
uche.washington@nih.gov
(uche.washington@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT AND NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. The National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, NC intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Predictive Biology Incorporated of Carlsbad CA for the purchase of "Heritability (HERIT16) testing", in support of a National Toxicology Program (NTP) project involving neuroprogenitor cells derived from diversity outbred mouse embryonic stem cells. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures (section 4202 of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996) in conjunction with FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items. The FAR as supplemented by the Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) will be used to evaluate the offer and award this requirement. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541380, "Testing Laboratories" with a size standard of $15.0M. The Contractor shall provide the NIEHS/DNTP/Biomolecular Screening Branch with information that will assist in the identification of genes that are responsible for differences in individual susceptibility to the adverse effects of chemical exposures. The Contractor shall test 28 flame retardants and other potentially toxic environmental chemicals for toxicity against 2 prototypical cell lines to screen for differential responses. Following the initial screen, a subset of chemicals exhibiting specific toxicity response patterns will be selected for testing against 16 genetically distinct cell lines to generate data that will allow identification of "toxicity-related" genes and signaling pathways. This is referred to as "Heritability (HERIT16) Testing" or genetically-controlled differential toxicity response determination. The goal is to estimate the heritability of compound response. Humans demonstrate a broad range of variability in toxicity responses to environmental chemicals, and with humans being extremely genetically diverse, it is reasonable to assume that there are differences in toxicity responses result from genomic differences. This phenomenon has been demonstrated using a subset of chemicals from the Tox21 compound library to treat human lymphoblastoid cell lines from ~1000 individuals. However, in that study, the genetic differences responsible for the observed differential responses were not identified. The NIEHS/DNTP needs to identify the genes that are involved in these toxicity responses. To do so, the DNTP needs to use a mammalian model that has genetic variability rivaling or exceeding the variability that exists within the human population. Historically, the NTP has relied on the Diversity Outbred mouse model, developed at the Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor ME. This mouse model has enabled the identification of genes and signaling pathways related to differences in benzene - associated toxicity, and the potential for establishing a more restrictive occupational exposure level for humans, based on identification of susceptible subpopulations based on genotype. However, rather than using whole animals (mice), the NTP will be using cell cultures derived from these Diversity Outbred mice to 1) save on study-related costs and 2) reduce reliance on animal testing. To this end, Predictive Biology, Inc., is the only company known to have these cell lines and a large repository of genetically diverse cells derived from Diversity Outbred (DO) mice. A wide range of genetic diversity in a study population (in this case, cell lines) is necessary for generating data that can be used to identify the specific genes that are operational in a signaling pathway of interest, in response to chemical exposure. In addition to this, the use of cell lines rather than intact mice allows NTP to abide by the international recommendations to reduce and replace animals in toxicology research, and is also a much more economical approach to conducting this study. This notice of intent is NOT a request for competitive proposals; however, all responses received within 10 days from the date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract action based upon responses to this notice is solely with the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. If no affirmative responses are received within 10 days of this notice to determine whether a qualified source is more advantageous to the Government, the order will be issued to Expression Analysis. There is no solicitation package available. The Contracting Officer for this requirement is Ms. Onyenauché Washington. All questions or concerns relating to this notice shall be submitted by e-mail to uche.washington@nih.gov.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIEHS/NIEHS2016NOI002/listing.html)
- Record
- SN03988481-W 20160113/160111234834-bbca31f767648aa24e9e4ba0fd168bee (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |