Notice of Intent to Award to Sole Source - 1ML Serum

•The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intends to award a sole source, firm fixed price contract to Creative Testing Solutions. •This contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (SAP) and 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1). The North American Industry Classification System code for this procurement is 325414 - Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing.

Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. •This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals; however, all responses received within seven (7) days of the issuance of this notice will be considered by the government. 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.

Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Any quotation/response should be emailed to the contract specialist Ruben Reyes at qmz3@cdc.gov by 12:00PM, August 29, 2024. More Information: •Serum from blood donations will be used to analyze from 3,000 donations across10 selected US States.

Also obtained will be geographic and blood group information from respective blood collection organizations. •The primary objectives of our project are to understand 1) the association between state of residence and presence of antibodies directed against alpha-gal and 2) to determine the association between blood type and the presence of antibodies directed against alpha-gal.

To meet these objectives, we require blood donor specimens that are 1) nationally representative, 2) from blood donors for whom the zip code of residence is known 3) for whom the blood type is known. Serum specimens provided through Clinical Testing Solutions (CTS) comprise a unique combination of blood donor specimens from multiple separate blood collection agencies across the United States. CTS also has access to geographic details and blood type of donors, which is not provided through other sources.

CTS’s access to combine blood donor specimens from various entities allows for a national reach that cannot be achieved through a single blood donor agency. To meet the goals of this project, it is critical we have specific geographic areas sampled and know precise locations of place of residency. We could not identify other vendors with similar geographic coverage and national representation.

Additionally, specimens provided through CTS allow for identification of residence at the zip code level, which is not available from other sources. Serum specimens provided through CTS also contain information on blood type, and blood type is critical for the proposed serological survey since it has been associated with the development of IgE antibodies directed against alpha-gal. Other sources of specimens are not able to provide information on blood type.