This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation, Notice of Intent. The Government intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Affymetrix, for Custom Gene Chips, in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are not being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Submit offers on NOI-RML #5030. The solicitation documents and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-05B dated 8/26/05. This acquisition will be processed under Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) and is not a Small Business Set-Aside. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 339111 and the small business size is 500. SCHEDULE: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), has been charged with performing basic research contributing to the development of diagnostic reagents, therapeutics and vaccines against human bacterial pathogens. Construction of an Affymetrix microarray custom chip containing oligonucleotide sequences representing 16(sixteen) genomes will assist towards achieving those goals. The NIAID/RML has a need to construct a custom chip from the manufacturer that shall contain a diverse array of bacterial pathogens. This chip shall be unique and specific to NIAID/RML. No other chip of its kind shall exist. The contractor shall provide to NIAID/RML services to produce a custom bacterial pathogen gene chip. This is a 6 to 8(six-eight) week, one time work effort, where the final product shall be a custom gene chip containing oligo pairs at high density, specific to 16(sixteen) bacterial pathogen genomes. These chips shall be compatible with the Affymetrix fluidics and hybridization station and scanner. The contractor shall keep all NIAID/RML derived data secure and shall not release or maintain any of the data beyond this contract effort. If Internet connectivity is needed in order to perform the work, or transfer deliverables, contractor computers shall be secure and in compliance with NIAID/RML IT security procedures and policies. The NIAID/RML will provide support access to Technical support from Affymetrix regarding the NIAID/RML custom chip if needed. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES: Step 1: The design and manufacturing process of this custom gene chip is wholly patented and owned by Affymetrix. The chip shall be high density, at 106 per cm2 or greater (USPNos. 5445934 and 5744305). The custom GeneChip® shall be made by photolithography manufacturing technology (USPNos. 5424186, 5510270), developed solely by Affymetrix. The multi-genome GeneChip® probe array must enable identification of 2-fold or greater levels of change in expression levels, and detection of as little as 1(one) mRNA transcript in a complex mixture of 100,000. The GeneChip® probe array must contain multiple unique probes designed to be Perfect Match (PM), 25-mer oligonucleotide probe pairs, to represent each mRNA transcript (full length gene) tested, and multiple probes designed to be Mis-Match (MM), to enable calibration of non-specific hybridization data (USPNos.5527681). Additional control sequences (yeast and commensal) must also be available on the chip for hybridization control, and housekeeping gene analysis. The probe selection strategy for the multi-genome custom GeneChip® probe array shall be based upon a probe design database (USPNos. 6188783) and shall be able to distinguish between highly homologous sequences and those of closely related gene families, strains, species and genus of bacteria. The multi-genome custom GeneChip® probe array shall be housed in a fixed volume reaction chamber (USPNos. 5945334, 6140044) providing automated and consistent hybridization of samples to the array. We will process the chips on the Affymetrix system in Frederick, MD (NIAID) which contains: the Affymetrix GeneArray® Scanner, Fluidics Station, 640 Hybridization Oven, Micro Array Suite/Data Mining Tool (USPNos. 5871928, 6040138, 6197506), MicroDB, and LIMS software database. No other photolithography-based chip, apart from those purchased from Affymetrix is compatible with the Affymetrix system in place in Frederick, MD. Deliverables: 160(one-hundred sixty) chips shall be delivered to RML 2(two) months from award of the purchase order to the contractor. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE: Inspection Criteria: All work will be inspected and approved by the NIAID/RML project officer or his designee via the weekly reports and communications. Acceptance Criteria: will be based upon decisions made by the NIAID/RML Project Officer. FOB Point shall be Destination, Hamilton, MT. Delivery location is Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 903 S. 4th Street, Hamilton, MT. The following FAR provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition: (B)(1) By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the CCR database prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation; 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors Commercial; FAR52.212-2 Evaluation Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items; FAR 52-212.5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders Commercial Items. FAR52.246-2 Inspection of Supplies-Fixed Price. By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall have posted their FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications Commercial Items at website http://orca.bpn.gov. FAR52.227-14 Rights In Data General; HHSAR 352.224.70 (b)(f) Confidentiality of Information Clause. Award will be based on the capability of the item offered to meet the above stated salient characteristics, including technical evaluation, delivery, price, and past performance. Offers may be mailed or faxed to the POC indicated above (Fax - 406-363-9288). Offers must be submitted not later than 4:30 PM (MDST), 9/19/05. Copies of the above-referenced clauses are available upon request, either by telephone or fax. All responsible sources may submit an offer that will be considered by this Agency.