Notice of Intent to Sole Source

The Government requires an IDIQ contract with Metabolon, Inc. to provide metabolomics analysis services of urine, blood, fecal, saliva and tissue samples. This will be a Firm Fixed Price IDIQ contract. USARIEM requires metabolomics analysis services to support their research study protocols. Metabolomics analyses measure small molecules, known as metabolites, which are present in biological samples (e.g., blood, urine, tissue, etc.). Metabolomics analyses can be done using both targeted and untargeted approaches.

Targeted approaches measure a pre-defined suite of metabolites. Untargeted approaches measure hundreds to thousands of metabolites in a single small volume sample. The major challenge with untargeted approaches is identifying the measured metabolites.

Identification requires maintaining an extensive library of metabolites and the analytical information associated with those metabolites (i.e., to match results from the analytical instrument with the metabolite identification) Identification is a time and cost-intensive process for laboratories that do not maintain extensive metabolite libraries, and without proper identification, investigators are often left with meaningless data.Thus, extensive libraries that enable identification of hundreds to thousands of metabolites are critical for extracting meaningful information using small volume samples.

USARIEM needs to continue to have a large volume of measured metabolites integrated into interpretable maps of biological pathways in order to extract meaningful information from their analysis. Metabolon can provide this service. The most critical aspects of these metabolomics analysis services are the: ? Ability to conduct both untargeted and targeted metabolite analysis. ?

Access to an extensive library of over 4,000 known metabolites and ability to accurately identify more than 1,000 metabolites in a small volume sample ? Expertise in utilizing ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem high resolution/accurate mass spectrometry for identifying metabolites in biological samples across multiple chemical classes ? Expertise in bioinformatics and pathway analysis of metabolomics data ?

Laboratory systems that are governed by a set of Standard Operating Procedures that have been reviewed, updated, and include quality control steps ? Has a documented history of contributing to peer-reviewed publications using metabolomics analyses in order to prove and validate current and ongoing protocols. Metabolon, Inc. is the only Company that can meet all of these requirements