CDC Clarivate Meta Core Meta Drug

This is a Notice of Intent, not a request for quotation. No solicitation will be issued, and no quotations will be requested.

The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Mission Acquisition Solutions (OMAS), on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Office of Innovation and Analytics (OIA), intends to award a firm-fixed-price contract to Clarivate Analytics (US) LLC for the renewal of proprietary Clarivate MetaCore and MetaDrug software licenses.

The purpose of this requirement is to renew ATSDR/OIA’s Clarivate MetaCore/MetaDrug software licenses for continued use by the Simulation Science Section (SSS). The RFQ identifies this requirement as a firm-fixed-price acquisition for Clarivate MetaCore and MetaDrug, Brand Name, All or None. Federal Government resellers must be authorized resellers of the required products/services.

MetaCore/MetaDrug is a web-based bioinformatics suite that allows researchers to upload data analysis results from microarray, next-generation sequencing, metabolic, SAGE, siRNA, microRNA, and screening data. It provides functional analysis to identify the most relevant pathways, networks, and cellular processes in the data. Additionally, gene, protein, compound, pathway, and disease maps are available. The MetaCore/MetaDrug license includes tools for searching and data visualization, enabling identification of relevant biological pathways, networks, and processes in a virtual lab.

Clarivate MetaCore/MetaDrug software will assist ATSDR/OIA/SSS and ATSDR program staff with current computational systems biology tools to help accomplish the agency’s mission to investigate environmental exposures to hazardous substances in communities. With continued use, the software license will help model and understand disease pathways and build unrestricted networks of any size and data type to visualize biological relationships and molecular interactions, annotated with mechanisms, directionality, and effects. The software also supports identification and validation of targets and biomarkers and exploration of biological, chemical, and disease contexts using a comprehensive source of critical data.

The requirement includes the following Clarivate software licenses:

1. Clarivate MetaCore License Fee
2. Clarivate MetaDrug License Fee

The contemplated period of performance is August 18, 2026 through August 17, 2031, structured in annual periods as follows:

Year 1: August 18, 2026 – August 17, 2027
Year 2: August 18, 2027 – August 17, 2028
Year 3: August 18, 2028 – August 17, 2029
Year 4: August 18, 2029 – August 17, 2030
Year 5: August 18, 2030 – August 17, 2031

Justification for Sole Source

Clarivate Analytics (US) LLC is the proprietary provider of the required MetaCore and MetaDrug software licenses. Clarivate has certified that Clarivate Companies, including Clarivate Analytics (US) LLC, are the sole owner of MetaCore and MetaDrug and have the exclusive right to license those products/databases.

The required software provides specialized computational systems biology and bioinformatics capabilities needed by ATSDR/OIA/SSS to support ongoing toxicological, omics, and environmental health research activities.

Clarivate MetaCore/MetaDrug provides a web-based platform for functional and network analysis, biological pathway analysis, gene/protein/compound/pathway/disease mapping, and data visualization. These capabilities support the Government’s need to examine, summarize, and interpret available toxicological and omics studies to determine human exposure levels that may be associated with health effects.

The software is used by ATSDR/OIA/SSS to support scientific analyses involving hazardous substances, environmental chemicals, computational toxicology, disease pathway modeling, biomarker identification and validation, and toxicogenomics. Continued use of Clarivate MetaCore/MetaDrug supports consistency of analytical methods, continuity of existing workflows, and continued access to previously developed data, methods, and scientific analyses.

Replacement of the Clarivate MetaCore/MetaDrug software with an alternative product would require transition to a new platform, redevelopment of established workflows, potential migration or recreation of data and analyses, validation of any replacement approach, and retraining of users. These transition activities could disrupt ongoing scientific work and delay ATSDR/OIA/SSS research activities.

Market research conducted in accordance with FAR Part 10 did not identify an alternative commercial software solution capable of meeting the Government’s technical, scientific, and operational requirements in the same manner as Clarivate MetaCore/MetaDrug. The Government requires continued access to the proprietary Clarivate MetaCore and MetaDrug software capabilities to maintain continuity of ongoing computational systems biology and toxicological research activities.

Authority

This acquisition is being conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13 – Simplified Acquisition Procedures and FAR Part 12 – Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services. For purchases not exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, contracting officers may solicit from a single source when the Contracting Officer determines that only one source is reasonably available. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13 procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6 competition requirements.

Submission of Capability Statements

Interested parties capable of providing the same or similar products or services must submit a capability statement electronically. Responses will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed contract, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Capability statements must demonstrate the ability to provide the required Clarivate MetaCore and MetaDrug software licenses, or an equivalent solution, that is fully compatible with ATSDR/OIA/SSS’s existing workflows, data, scientific methods, and ongoing computational toxicology and omics research activities. Capability statements must also demonstrate the ability to provide equivalent functionality for web-based bioinformatics analysis, functional and network analysis, pathway analysis, biological systems modeling, compound and disease mapping, data visualization, and support for toxicological and omics studies without disruption to ongoing ATSDR/OIA/SSS work.

Deadline: August 14, 2026, at 1:00 PM ET

Submit to:
Vera Nordalm
Contract Specialist
Office of Mission Acquisition Solutions (OMAS) 

Email: vera.nordalm@hhs.gov

Copy:
Em’Ria Briscoe
Contracting Officer
Email: EmRia.Briscoe@hhs.gov