Q301--Research Support Services - Global Untargeted Metabolomics Intent to Sole Source Metabolon Inc.

The Veteran s Administration (VA) Office of Research and Development, Regional Procurement Office East in Pittsburgh, PA intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Metabolon, Inc. based in Morrisville, NC on behalf of the VA Los Angeles Healthcare System. The requirement is to provide research assistance for planned VA medical studies. The study requires global untargeted metabolomics analysis of human fecal samples (directly submitted as frozen material) with measurement of levels of over 1,000 validated metabolites to ensure sufficient coverage of diverse metabolic activities. The required services are highly specialized and require customized equipment and highly trained technical personnel and scientists. This new research also requires that human fecal metabolomics data previously generated by the study (performed by Metabolon, Inc.) can be compared to the new untargeted metabolomics data that will be generated from the 150 submitted fecal samples. The planned studies follow preliminary studies based on the same subject. The specific work to be performed includes: A service provider which specializes in the performance of high-throughput global metabolomics on a fee-for-service basis. Service provider shall have a history of performing global untargeted metabolomics services to academic clients which has resulted in data published in peer-reviewed journals. Service provider shall have the personnel, equipment, and material/supplies to perform untargeted ultra-high performance liquid chromatography / tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS/MS). Service provider shall utilize a chemical reference library of over 4,000 metabolites for identification of metabolites in biological specimens and have demonstrated ability to detect over 1,000 metabolites with validated identification in human fecal studies. The data generated by the metabolomics provider shall be compatible with existing human fecal metabolomics datasets generated for the principal investigator s research to allow for direct comparisons. The final deliverables of global untargeted metabolomics shall include spreadsheets listing validated metabolites (by chemical name as well as KEGG and HMDB ID) and showing the raw and batch-normalized peak areas for these metabolites for each sample. The requirement will take place at a VA facility in Los Angeles, CA. The sole source is pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals, however; any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirement may submit a capability statement and supporting documentation to the contracting office no later than Monday, November 21, 2022, (10:00 AM, EST). Interest/capability statements may be sent to Michael Haydo at [email protected]. No telephone responses will be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.