In accordance with §11-35-1560(A) of the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code, it is the intent of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to award without competition a sole source contract in accordance with Regulation 19-445.2105(B)(5) to Metabolon, Inc. in support of a research study investigating metabolomic markers associated with pre-eclampsia in women with Type 1 diabetes.
Purpose and Objectives: The Medical University of South Carolina seeks to procure specialized metabolomic analysis services from Metabolon, Inc. in support of a research study investigating metabolomic markers associated with pre-eclampsia in women with Type 1 diabetes. The objective of the study is to identify predictive biomarkers and better understand the disease mechanisms underlying pre-eclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication affecting approximately twenty percent of women with Type 1 diabetes. The project requires untargeted metabolomic analysis of 177 plasma samples collected longitudinally throughout pregnancy.
Sole Source Justification: Metabolon, Inc. is the only known vendor capable of providing the specific combination of proprietary metabolomic technologies, reference databases, analytical workflows, and biological interpretation services required for this research project.
Metabolon maintains a proprietary biochemical reference library containing more than 5,400 authenticated metabolites across over 70 metabolic pathways, including approximately 2,000 metabolites identified in human plasma. The vendor's chemocentric methodology cross-references raw analytical data against authenticated physical standards using proprietary retention time, accurate mass, and fragmentation pattern matching, enabling highly accurate metabolite identification and separation of biological signals from analytical noise.
The specific combination of authenticated metabolite coverage, proprietary reference standards, patent-protected methodologies, unnamed compound identification, and expert biological interpretation cannot be obtained from another source without materially changing the scope and expected outcomes of the research project. Substitution with another vendor would likely result in different analytical coverage, reduced comparability of results, loss of access to Metabolon's proprietary metabolite library and interpretive tools, and increased risk of failing to identify biomarkers and disease mechanisms that are central to the study objectives.
QUESTIONS/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Shall be addressed to the email address of the Procurement Officer indicated below.
PROTESTS (MAY 2019): If you are aggrieved in connection with the intended award of this contract, you may be entitled to protest, but only as provided in §11-35-4210. To protest an intended award of a contract pursuant to §11-35-1560, you shall (i) notify the chief procurement officer in writing of your intent to protest within five (5) business days of the date this intent to award is posted, and (ii) if the appropriate chief procurement officer has been timely notified of your intent to protest, you may submit your actual protest within fifteen days of the date this notice of intent to award is posted. Days are calculated as provided in §11-35-310(13). Both protests and notices of intent to protest must be in writing and must be received by the appropriate Chief Procurement Officer within the time provided. The grounds of the protest and the relief requested must be set forth with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided.
Any protest or notice of intent to protest must be addressed to the Chief Procurement Officer, Materials Management Office, and submitted in writing (a) by email to: protest-mmo@mmo.sc.gov or (b) by post or delivery to: 1201 Main Street, Suite 600, Columbia, SC 29201
This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Any responsible sources who wish to identify their interest and capability to provide these services must notify this Contracting Specialist at gileno@musc.eduprior to the contact deadline: October 19, 2026, at 12:00 AM EST. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Upon receipt of the interested parties’ notification, the Contracting Officer will determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement or proceed with sole source negotiations.
Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract, shall notify the appropriate chief Procurement officer in writing of its intent to protest within five (5) business days of the date this notice is posted. Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor who is aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract and has timely notified the appropriate chief procurement officer of its intent to protest, may protest to the appropriate chief procurement officer in the manner set forth below within fifteen days of the date this notice is posted; except that a matter that could have been raised as a protest of the solicitation may not be raised as a protest of the award or intended award of a contract.
A protest must be in writing, filed with the appropriate chief procurement officer, and set forth the grounds of the protest and the relief requested with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided. The protest must be received by the appropriate chief procurement officer within the time provided above. Days are calculated as provided in S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-310(13).
Any Notice Of Intent To Protest And Protest Must Be Addressed To: Materials Management Officer
803-737-0600 • scbo@mmo.sc.gov • https://scbo.sc.gov • https://procurement.sc.gov
