Decision released in protest denial of FDA FAERS Data Management Program (DMP) Support requirement

DIGEST

Agency reasonably evaluated protester’s and awardee’s proposals pursuant to the terms of the solicitation, and reasonably determined that payment of the price premium associated with protester’s proposal was not warranted by the slight superiority of its proposed technical approach.

DISCUSSION

LPE primarily challenges the agency’s evaluation under the prior experience and technical approach evaluation factors and asserts that the agency’s best-value determination was unreasonable.11  As discussed below, we find no merit in any of these allegations.   Evaluation of Prior Experience By way of background, in responding to the phase I prior experience requirements, MPZA identified the following three prior experience examples:  (1) the immediately preceding contract (referred to as the comprehensive data management services or “CDMS” contract) which was awarded to a joint venture comprised of Zimmerman Associates, Inc. (ZAI) and BarnAllen Technologies, Inc. (BA) and was performed from 2017 to 2023; (2) a contract and “bridge” contract12 (referred to collectively as the data management program or “DMP”) that immediately preceded the CDMS contract, with performance of the bridge contract extending through June 2018; and (3) an FDA contract awarded to a joint venture comprised of MPF Federal, LLC  and ZAI in 2020, referred to as the “RIM” (records and information management) contract.  AR, Tab 4.1, MPZA Phase I Proposal at 1-6.  In challenging the agency’s evaluation of MPZA’s proposal under the prior experience factor, LPE asserts that (1) MPZA’s proposal failed to comply with the requirement that at least one prior experience example be that of the prime contractor; (2) MPZA’s proposal contained misrepresentations; and (3) the agency improperly considered ZAI’s performance under the bridge contract.  As discussed below, we find no merit in these allegations…

DECISION

LPE Strategy, LLC, of Silver Spring, Maryland, protests the award of a contract to MPZA, LLC, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, pursuant to request for proposals (RFP) No. 75F40123R00015, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for data management services.  Protest at 1-3.1  LPE challenges the agency’s evaluation of proposals under the RFP’s non-price evaluation factors, and asserts that the source selection decision was unreasonable.

We deny the protest.

See the decision here.

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Protest Denied: FDA FAERS Data Management Program (DMP) Support

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