NOI- CONSULTATION AND DATA STORAGE

PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE –

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

1. SOLICITATION NUMBER: PCAS 02668

1. TITLE: CONSULTATION AND DATA STORAGE 26 000089

1. RESPONSE DATE: MAY 3, 2026, 09:00AM

1. PRIMARY POINT OF CONTACT: VISHNUVAJJALA HANUMANTH RAO

EMAIL: VISHNUH@MAIL.NIH.GOV

1. INTRODUCTION:

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME).

The National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), intends to award a contract to Dr. Claire Marchal for the services required to analyze and integrate diverse molecular genomic data from human and mouse retinas.

1. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE and SET ASIDE STATUS
    

NAICS code 5413980 All Other Testing laboratory Services, and Technical Services with a business size standard classification of  $19 Million  This acquisition is NOT set aside for small businesses.

1. REGULATORY AUTHORITY
    

The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2024-07 dated 08-29-2024.

This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13.5—Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items and FAR subpart 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items at an amount exceeding the SAT and not exceeding $7 million.

1. STATUTORY AUTHORITY
    

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the FAR Subpart 13.5—Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items and the statutory authority of [specify the applicable authority: (1) FAR 6.302-1—Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements 41 U.S.C. 3304 (a)(1).

1. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT:

1. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES:

PURPOSE:

 Precise gene expression patterns, which are critical for maintaining structure and function in the retinal cells, are controlled by regulatory networks that comprise of multiple levels including topology of the genome, regulatory sequences, transcription factors and signaling proteins. Next generation sequencing methods have now made it possible to perform genome-wide studies of gene expression, genetic variations and corresponding regulatory proteins. We are interested in elucidating the nature of gene regulatory networks during development and how these are disrupted in aging and disease to help us design novel treatment paradigms for blinding largely incurable retinal and macular degenerative diseases. A major goal of our research is to integrate diverse molecular genomic datasets on genome-wide gene expression with regulatory factor binding, topological information and other changes in the retina during normal development, aging and disease conditions in humans and mice. These networks will be used to explore genomic regulations in the retina and understand the effect of human genetic generations that are associated with retinal and macular degeneration.

OBJECTIVES:

The contractor will pre-process diverse raw data generated in the lab by Next Generation Sequencing methods as well as those from relevant public datasets. The contractor will integrate data using state-of-the-art statistical modeling.

• • The contractor will generate genomic regulatory networks from this data
  • and will develop user-friendly tools to allow biologists to explore the data.
  • The contractor will identify retina-specific genomic features and explore biological and medical significance.
  • Finally, the contractor will attend regular meetings with the people involved in the project and participate in the publication of this work in peer-review journals.
  • The draft of a manuscript ready for submission is expected by the end of the period of performance.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The period of performance will be from May 20th, 2026, to May 19, 2027

1. CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION
    

The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted. Specifically, Dr. Marchal has extensive and proven experience in developing novel bioinformatics tools and applying them to the latest NGS methods. Dr. Marchal has Exceptional expertise in the analysis of 3-dimensional chromatin architecture and highly specialized Hi-C sequencing data, which is not a routine NGS task and developed a new, optimized computational method and data analysis pipeline for integrating Hi-C data with other datasets to generate gene regulatory networks (GRNs).

In accordance with FAR part 10, extensive market research was conducted to reach this determination. Additionally, contacts with knowledgeable individuals both in industry and Government, as well as reviews of available product literature, revealed no other sources. Finally, a review of the GSA Advantage, Dynamic Small Business Search, and previous government acquisitions returned no results that met all of the requirements. Therefore, only Interaxon Inc is capable of meeting the needs of this requirement.

The intended source is:

IN SILICHROM LTD

15 DIGBY ROAD

NEWBURY

RG141TS, UNITED KINGDOM

 

1. CLOSING STATEMENT
    

THIS SYNOPSIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice.

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct competitive procurement. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.

All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number, PCAS 02668 Responses must be submitted electronically to Contract Specialist at VISHNUVAJJALA HANUMANTH RAO

VISHNUH@MAIL.NIH.GOV