NON-COMPETITIVE COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION

Title: Renewal of License subscription to access Flare LigandPro, Forge GUI, Spark GUI and Engine Broker 5-User Group Software

(i)  This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items 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 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisitions (OA) on behalf of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) intends to negotiate and award a contract without providing for full and open competition to Cresset Biomolecular Discovery Ltd for Cresset's Flare Designer Software License to include Flare LigandPro, Forge GUI, and Spark GU.

This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive 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 13.501 Special documentation requirements and the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1901 and the statutory authority of FAR Subpart 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

Pursuant to FAR Subpart 13.501 (a) (1) (iii) the justification will be made available within 14 days after contract award or in the case of unusual and compelling urgency within 30 days after contract award.

(ii)   The solicitation number is 75N95022Q00116 and the solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ).    

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;  and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

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

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition (OA), on behalf of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) or the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (including brand-name) to Cresset Biomolecular Discovery Ltd for Cresset's Flare Designer Software License to include Flare LigandPro, Forge GUI, and Spark GU.

This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive for a commercial item or service and is conducted pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) Soliciting from a single source. (1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, or industrial mobilization).

The rationale for the brand-name justification is Cresset’s patent, copyright, proprietary data, or licensing agreement limits competition.

(iii)  The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 22-2022/01-14-2022.

(iv)  The associated NAICS code 511210 and the number of employees is 500 employees.   This requirement is

(v)   This requirement is for Cresset's Flare software platform that will help to advanced approaches for protein-ligand analysis for the structure-based design of ligands. Computational, medicinal and synthetic chemists at NCATS will use this software on a daily basis as  a part of their work flow.  NCATS is in need of software that can perform the following:

•The software shall be based on field technology, a feature that uses biological activity rather than chemical similarities as the key descriptors of the molecule

•The software shall be get accurate values for relative binding affinity within a related set of ligands using Free Energy Perturbation (FEP)

•The software able to study the conformational changes of proteins and assess the stability of protein-ligand complexes using Molecular Dynamics experiments

•The software shall use choice of force fields for FEP and Dynamics calculations, including Open force field

•The software shall get immediate feedback on where ligands complement proteins and use this in design

•The software shall assist to design new molecules and dock them to protein target

•The software shall be able minimize protein-ligand complexes to achieve optimal interaction for each compound

•The software shall use the energetics of ligand binding to guide lead optimization

•The software shall be able to calculate the location and stability of water molecules in your protein

•The software shall be able Automate and customize workflows and add new menu entries through the Python API

•The software shall be able to integrate into already subscribed FORGE and SPARK tools

(vi)   For specifications please see attached Statement of Work (SOW) (Attachment 1).

Background:

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which mission it is to catalyze the generation of innovative methods and technologies that will enhance the development, testing and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics across a wide range of human diseases and conditions. The Early Translational Branch (ETB) is tasked with identifying and developing novel small molecule leads against a wide spectrum of human disease targets, which it accomplishes by screening thousands of small molecules in collaboration with both intra-and extramural researchers

Purpose and Objectives:

In pursuit of the NCATS goal, the Center has a strong internal trans-disciplinary team of scientists who continually discover novel small molecules for application against a wide range of human diseases. As such, discovering probe molecules that could serve as starting points for therapeutics is of great interest within NCATS. Utilizing a software platform will help to design advanced approaches for protein-ligand analysis for the structure-based design of ligands. Computational, medicinal, and synthetic chemists at NCATS will use this software daily as a part of their workflow.

(vii)  The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated period of performance is March 31, 2022 through March 30, 2023.

The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated delivery date is one week after receipt of order (ARO).

(viii)  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 (Nov 2021)
• 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.
• 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 (Jan 2022)
• NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (Feb 2021)

(ix)   The Government will evaluate quotations or offers in accordance with FAR 13.106-2 and award a purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate quotes:

a. Technical capability of the item offered to meet the Government requirement;

b. Price; and

c. Past performance [see FAR 13.106-2(b)(3)].”

(x)  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.

(xi)  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.

(xii)  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.

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

(xiv)  Responses to this solicitation must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. The price quote shall include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, delivery days after contract award, delivery terms, prompt payment discount terms, F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), product or catalog number(s), product description, and any other information or factors that may be considered in the award decision. Such factors may include: past performance, special features required for effective program performance, trade-in considerations, probable life of the item selected as compared with that of a comparable item, warranty considerations, maintenance availability, and environmental and energy efficiency considerations.

Respondents that believe that they are manufacturers or authorized resellers of the brand-name product specified in this announcement must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in the purchase description; quantity; estimated price or cost; shipping, handling, and/or installation charges; and delivery date after receipt of order. 

The Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), 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.

All offers must be received by 11:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight/Standard Time, on Monday, February 21, 2022, and reference 75N95022Q00116. Responses must be submitted electronically to Morgen Slager, Contract Specialist at [email protected].

Fax responses will not be accepted.