Advanced Control Device for Aerosol Delivery
NOTICE OF INTENT FOR SOLE SOURCE
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in Research Triangle Park, NC, intends to award a sole source purchase order under authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures to SCIREQ, an EMKA Technologies Company to purchase an Advanced Control Device for Aerosol Delivery System, a Double Chamber Plethysmograph (DCP) suite, a dedicated computer to run the delivery system and required software. SCIREQ is the manufacturer and sole distributor of this equipment. This equipment will be used by the EPA to expand its current pulmonary function monitoring system and allow for more in-depth evaluation of the effects of inhaled chemicals. The EPA is currently engaged in research projects for Air Climate and Energy (ACE), Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) and Chemical Safety and Sustainability (CSS) programs. This equipment will enable EPA researchers to deliver nebulized drugs or chemicals directly to individual animals to evaluate airway responses while monitoring their respiratory changes in real-time, expand the ability to assess lung functional changes in rodents beyond the Agency's existing capability. This is part of EPA's comparative approach to understanding the respiratory effects of breathing air pollutants and other inhaled air toxicants. The system provides nebulizer units, compatible to EPA's existing equipment to generate very small particles of drugs or chemicals into the plethysmography chambers. The aerosol delivery system works with the IOX2 acquisition software to allow precise control of the timing (start and stop times) for the aerosol generation and delivery. The aerosol delivery is physically compatible with EPA's current animal chambers, and the data generated will be collected and analyzed with existing SCIREQ/EMKA software. The DCP system will complement EPA's three (3) previously purchased rodent lung function suites which include a mouse DCP suite, a rat whole body plethysmograph (WBP) suite, and a mouse WBP suite. Each suite uses related (IOX2) software for data acquisition and also uses related data analyses (DA) software for data retuning and averaging after collection.
The circumstance permitting is FAR 13.106-1(b) "Soliciting from a single source". All interested parties who believe they can provide the required services should fully explain their capabilities and qualifications in writing within 10 days from the date of this announcement and provide itemized pricing that is sufficient to make a determination that competition is feasible. The intent of this notice is to determine if any other source(s) exist, and therefore, no solicitation is available. Consequently, anyone failing to provide the aforementioned and instead chooses to merely submit a routine letter requesting a copy of the statement of work or more information about the project will be ignored. The information received to this notice will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. Please submit response ONLY to Sammie Jones at jones.sammie@epa.gov. No telephone or faxed requests will be honored.
Jones, Sammie
