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THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT, A MARKET SURVEY FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR ANY FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION REQUESTS. NO TELEPHONE CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED REQUESTING AN RFQ PACKAGE OR SOLICITATION. THERE IS NO RFQ PACKAGE OR SOLICITATION. IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE PROCUREMENT INTEGRITY OF ANY FUTURE PROCUREMENT, IF ANY, THAT MAY ARISE FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INFORMATION REGARDING THE TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT WILL NOT BE GIVEN AND NO APPOINTMENTS FOR PRESENTATIONS WILL BE MADE.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Acquisitions and Grants Services (OAGS) is issuing this source sought announcement on behalf of the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) in order to determine if there are existing small business sources and other than small business sources capable of providing a complete Guinea Pig Rack, Accommodating Cages, and Components.

If your firm is considered a small business source under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 332999 - All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing; Small Business Size Standard is 750 employees and believe that your firm would be able to provide the FDA with the supplies/services described below, please submit an email to Warren.Dutter@fda.hhs.gov. The vendor should include information about the company and demonstrate that it can meet all of the minimum technical requirements.

Background: The NCTR, Division of Neurotoxicology has an approved scientific study requiring the use of guinea pigs. Researchers within the division anticipate using guinea pigs in a series of future studies. Owing to the nature of the work guinea pigs must be used. However, guinea pigs have different housing requirements then species currently in used at the NCTR (rats, mice, nonhuman primates). We cannot currently house guinea pigs in a way that would be compliant with federal regulations on the care and use of animals in research. New housing must be purchased to complete approved scientific studies. The purchased housing must be compliant with federal regulations for the use of guinea pigs in federally funded research. We require two (2) additional new guinea pig housing racks. Each rack must hold a minimum of eight (8) cages. Four (4) racks are necessary to allow for appropriate housing during the rack and cage cleaning process (one in use while one is being cleaned). A rack must hold at least eight (8) cages to ensure we have enough space to house the total number of animals necessary for the planned work.

Minimum Technical Requirements:

1. Rack systems must not require facility renovations, including alterations to the building HVAC system, to accommodate their use.


2. The equipment shall provide an environment that shall meet or exceed the housing specifications listed in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 8th edition (http://qrants.nih.gov/qrants/olaw/Guide-for-the-care-and-use-of-laboratorv-animals.pdf).


3. Guinea pig racks and caging components shall be constructed of high quality and corrosion resistant 304 stainless steel and durable plastic/rubber/silicone materials that can withstand being repeatedly washed with detergents at 180-190° F and autoclaved up to 275° F


4. Stainless steel materials must be 304 stainless steel with all exposed surfaces smoothed to prevent injuries.


5. All welds must be continuous and smooth for durability and to protect the animals from sharp edges.


6. The cage unit shall be supported on stainless steel 5” casters.
   
   
   
   1. Casters shall have locking brakes;
   
   
   2. Casters shall have sealed bearings;
   
   
   3. Wheels shall be made of durable materials that can withstand high temperatures (180°F) and chemicals (detergent, acid).
   
   
   
   


7. Rack system shall be available as single or double sided
   
   
   
   1. Shall include a drawer style cage design;
   
   
   2. A solid bottom configuration
   
   
   3. Shall provide a minimum of 8 cages per rack.
   
   
   
   


8. Rack dimension requirements to ensures animals shall be visualized without the use of anything more than a two-step ladder, to ensure ergonomic safety as well as maximizes housing capacity within available animal room floor space
   
   
   
   1. Height from the floor to the highest placed cage on the rack shall not exceed 65 inches;
   
   
   2. Total height of rack shall not exceed 80 inches;
   
   
   3. Total width of rack shall not exceed 65 inches.
   
   
   
   


9. Guinea pig cage dimension requirements
   
   
   
   1. Depth shall be at least 25 inches and shall not exceed 30 inches;
   
   
   2. Height shall be at least 9 inches;
   
   
   3. Width shall be at least 25 inches and shall not exceed 33 inches.
   
   
   
   


10. Guinea pig cage material shall be composed of high temperature thermal plastic that can withstand high temperatures (180°F) and chemicals (detergent, acid).


11. Guinea pig cage material shall be opaque.


12. The cage card holders provided shall be designed to not block the view of the animals.


13. All guinea pig cages shall be equipped with removable stainless steel grated front panels that allow full visualization of the animals. The panel will need to secure to the side cage portions and any door mechanisms in a mechanism that is secure and precludes the animals from escaping.


14. The technician must have a method for visualization, husbandry and removal of the guinea pigs from the front access of the cage. This cage units must have at minimum: either an engineered mechanism for the caging to be pulled by a drawer mechanism for access or a stainless-steel hinged door included in the stainless-steel cage front.


15. All guinea pig cages must have a J type feeder to provide feed.


16. Each cage compartment to be equipped with one bottle water system which includes a stainless-steel water bottle holder, 32 oz bottle, sipper tube and stopper.


17. Ear cage compartment should be equipped with Edstrom or commercially compatible stainless steel “reverse s” style automatic water system with rodent drinking valves, stainless steel drip troughs and all mounting hardware.


18. Matching stainless steel or high temperature plastic excreta plans for each of the cages shall be included for placement underneath the cages.


19. The system should provide a quiet environment.


20. System shall feature ease of storage and sanitation handling.


21. Cage components shall be stackable.

Warranty:

Systems shall be warranted for not less than one (1) year from FDA acceptance of the system(s). Phone and email technical support shall be included for a minimum of 1-year.

Period of Performance:

Delivery shall occur within 120 calendar days from date of award.

Delivery Location:

FDA/NCTR

3900 NCTR Rd

Jefferson, AR 72079

Though the target audience is small business vendors or small businesses capable of supplying a U.S. service of a small business vendor or producer all interested parties may respond. At a minimum, responses shall include the following:

• Business name and bio, unique entity identification (UEI) number, business address, business website, business size status (i.e., SB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone SB, SDB, WOSB, LB), point of contact name, mailing address (if different from business address), phone number and email address. Provide this same information again if responding to provide a service offered by another firm.

• Past Performance information for the manufacturer and/or sale of same or substantially similar product and service or similar brand instruments to include date of sale, description, dollar value, client name, client address, client contact name, client point of contact mailing address (if different from that provided for client), client point of contact phone number, client point of contact email address, and name of the manufacturer (to include UEI number and size status) if not the respondent.

• Descriptive literature, brochures, marketing material, etc. detailing the nature of the product and service the responding firm is regularly engaged in manufacturing and/or selling.

• The offeror shall furnish sufficient technical information necessary for the Government to conclusively determine that the offered services meet the technical requirements identified above.

• The offeror shall advise if the product and/or service is on a Best in Class contract.

• If applicable, the offeror shall clearly identify where the offered product is made.

• If applicable, identification of the firm's GSA Schedule contract(s) by Schedule number and SINs that are applicable to this potential requirement are also requested.

• If a large business, provide if subcontracting opportunities exist for small business concerns.

• Standard commercial warranty and payment terms.

• Provide place of product manufacture or service performance and any other applicable information to enable review and analysis pertaining to the Buy American statute and requirements relating to Made in America in the event a nonavailability waiver request through the MIAO Digital Waiver Portal is needed.

• Informational pricing is desired.

• The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information, not identified in the response.

Interested Contractors must respond with capability statements which are due by email to the point of contact listed below on or before January 15, 2024 by 1:00 PM Central Time at the Food and Drug Administration, Field Operations Branch, FDA|OO|OFBA|OAGS|DAP, Attn: Warren Dutter, email warren.dutter@fda.hhs.gov. Reference: FDA-SSN-121615.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre‐solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in sam.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non‐proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

Additional Notes:

If the stated requirements appear restrictive, please submit comments detailing the concern. Though this is not a request for quote, informational pricing for the service would be helpful.

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