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NIMH Consulting Services on the Development of PET Analysis Software for the OpenNeuroPET Project

NIMH-23-000371

INTRODUCTION

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

The solicitation number is NIMH-23-000371 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541511 with a size standard of $30M Dollars.

SET-ASIDE STATUS

This acquisition is not restricted and is available for full and open competition.

ACQUISITION AUTHORITY

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures; FAR Subpart 13.5— Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items.

The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2023-02 dated February 22, 2023. The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through this date.

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

Background

In recent years, the importance of data sharing has increasingly been recognized by the neuroimaging community because of the poor replicability of findings, the need for appropriate quality control, the greater statistical power provided by larger samples, and the higher scientific impact of multilateral collaborations. In addition, our funding bodies and scientific journals increasingly require that the data be shared.

The NIMH IRP has recently established an archive for human brain data acquired with positron emission tomography (PET), OpenNeuroPET, which is an extension of OpenNeuro funded by NIMH. The recently established PET archive follows the recommendations of international leaders in the PET field and is capable of communicating and synergizing with other datasets and imaging modalities

Purpose

The general purpose is to maintain and support the infrastructure for the OpenNeuroPET archive so PET data may be meaningfully and more easily shared and analyzed. The awarded contractor will help with the following two objectives: support adoption and use by the neuroimaging community and to create software to analyze and share PET data. The awarded contractor shall be responsible for developing software to analyze these data (derivatives) and facilitate the sharing of derivative data to the OpenNeuroPET archive. The software should be open source, and follow good software practices for running the code reproducibly (using container environments) in alignment with the already existing tools for MRI (www.nipreps.org).

Project Requirements

See Attached Statement of Work.

Delivery Requirements/Period of Performance

Base Period: April 01, 2023 to March 31, 2024

Option Period 1: April 01, 2024 to March 31, 2025

Option Period 1: April 01, 2025 to March 31, 2026

Option Period 1: April 01, 2026 to March 31, 2027

Place of Performance

The place of performance shall be the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892

Contract Type

The Government intends to issue a firm fixed price purchase order for this requirement. Invoicing shall be in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act and payment shall be made via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

Response Format

Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror’s capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the salient characteristics of the product. The offeror must identify in their response where parts/equipment are manufactured.

The offeror must indicate in their response as to whether the brand-name or equal product proposed can or cannot meet the salient characteristics as stated in this combined solicitation synopsis.

In addition, the quote must provide their company name, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.”

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Offerors may provide up to 20, 8.5 by 11-inch pages (using no less than 10 font size) as their proposal to be evaluated by the Source Evaluation Panel. The technical submission will address the Statement of Work and be responsive to the attached evaluation factors. The 20-page technical submission limitation does not include and is in addition to the pages relating to relevant resume credentials and the price proposal. Technical submission pages in excess of this page limitation will not be considered.

COST/PRICE PROPOSAL

The cost/price proposal must be completed to include all costs related to the Statement of Work, including the hourly, daily and monthly rates, as appropriate, and all direct and indirect costs for the base and option years. The cost/price proposal shall be submitted in the Microsoft Excel format.

EVALUATION

The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered.

A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) Technical Approach (ii) Past Performance (iii) price.

Technical factors together are more important than cost or price

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html

(End of provision)

The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:

• FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018)


• FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020)


• FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Nov 2021)


• FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (May 2022)


• HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015)

The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses:

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html

(End of clause)

The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:

• FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018)


• FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020)


• FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items (Nov 2021). Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached.


• The clause at FAR 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000).


• HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015)>


• FAR 52.204-25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)


• HHSAR 352.239-74, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (December 18, 2015)

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text. Offerors MUST complete the provisions at 52.204-24 and 52.204-26 and submit completed copies as separate documents with their proposal.

• FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)


• FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020)


• FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders--Commercial Items (Dec 2022)


• NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (Apr 2022)
  
  

The Offerors to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Nov 2021), with its offer. If the offeror has completed FAR clause 52.212-3 at www.sam.gov, then the offeror does not need to provide a completed copy with its offer.

The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (Nov 2021), applies to this acquisition. Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached.

The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions as determined by the contracting officer are necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices. There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition.

The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.

Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror's capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price proposal must include labor costs, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount.

In addition, the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov."

CLOSING INFORMATION

All responses must be received by 5:00 PM EST, March 14, 2023 and reference number NIMH-23-000371. Responses may be submitted electronically to kyle.miller2@nih.gov, and robin.knightly@nih.gov.

Fax responses will not be accepted.

ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 – Statement of Work

Attachment 2 – Technical Evaluation Criteria

Attachment 3 – 52.212-4 and 52.212-5 Clauses

Attachment 4 – 52.204-24, 52.204-26 and 52.212-3 Clauses

Attachment 5 – Invoice Instructions.

Attachments/Links