Nuclear Diagnostic Products

B-416227 Jul 12, 2018 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Nuclear Diagnostic Products (NDP), a small business of Rockaway, New Jersey, protests the award of a contract to Cardinal Health 414 LLC (Cardinal Health), of Dublin, Ohio, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 36C24218Q0184, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs for radiopharmaceuticals. The protester contends that the agency should have recognized, and allowed it to correct, a mistake in its quotation. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Nuclear Diagnostic Products File:  B-416227 Date:  July 12, 2018 Wayne Wong, for the protester. Donald C. Mobly, Esq., and Deborah K. Morrell, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Charmaine A. Stevenson, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging award to lowest-priced, technically acceptable quotation is denied where agency was not required to allow correction of a mistake in the protester's quotation that was not apparent. DECISION Nuclear Diagnostic Products (NDP), a small business of Rockaway, New Jersey, protests the award of a contract to Cardinal Health 414 LLC (Cardinal Health), of Dublin, Ohio, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 36C24218Q0184, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs for radiopharmaceuticals.  The protester contends that the agency should have recognized, and allowed it to correct, a mistake in its quotation. We deny the protest.[1] BACKGROUND The RFQ, issued on January 8, 2018, contemplated award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity requirements contract using Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items, to the lowest-priced, technically acceptable quotation.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 2, RFQ, at 1, 57.  The RFQ contemplated a three-year ordering period, beginning on February 22, 2018, and ending on February 21, 2021, for radiopharmaceuticals to support patient care in region 2 (New York) of the agency's Veterans Integrated Service Network.  Id. at 1, 16.  This RFQ replaced a prior solicitation, issued on December 11, 2017, for this procurement.  Contracting Officer's Statement (COS) at 1; RFQ at 53 ("This solicitation replaces solicitation number VA242-17-Q-1178.").  Three quotations, including a quotation from NDP, were submitted in response to the original solicitation; however, all were found to be unacceptable, and therefore the contracting officer cancelled the original solicitation.  COS at 1-2. The instant RFQ required that vendors submit a completed price sheet for 99 contract line item numbers (CLIN).  RFQ at 23-27, 53.  For each CLIN, the price sheet provided the name of the product, unit of measure, size, and quantity, and required that vendors input a price for each millicurrie (mCi) or bulk dose, and a total price based on the quantity provided; the price sheet also required that vendors input a total price for each year of performance, and for the entire three-year performance period.  Id. at 23-27.  As relevant to the protest, CLINs 0001 and 0002 stated as follows: CLIN Name of Product Unit of Measure Size Quantity 0001 F18-FDG, unit dose Unit Dose 15 mCi 2328 0002 F18-FDG, bulk dose, 6 patients/[day], 5 [days/week], 52 [weeks/year] Unit Dose   1560 Id. at 23. The agency again received three quotations in response to the RFQ, including a quotation from NDP.  Award Decision Document at 2.  NDP's total price was $7,427,799, another vendor's total price was $6,092,672, and Cardinal Health's total price was $5,207,692.  Id.  The contracting officer concluded that Cardinal Health's quotation was the lowest-priced, technically acceptable quotation, and awarded the contract to Cardinal Health on February 22.  COS at 2; Award Decision Document at 4. The agency notified NDP that it had not been selected for award, and NDP filed an agency-level protest.  On March 26, the agency denied NDP's agency-level protest, and this protest followed. DISCUSSION The protester argues that there was a clear error on the face of its quotation, and the contracting officer abused her discretion by not allowing NDP to correct the mistake.  Protest at 1, 4.  NDP argues that, as corrected, its quotation would be the lowest-priced, technically acceptable quotation, with a total price of $5,153,229, an amount that is $54,463 less than Cardinal Health's price, and therefore it should receive the contract award.[2]  Id.  Specifically, NDP argues that the contracting officer should have recognized that it had erroneously multiplied its intended CLIN 0002 price for the F18-FDG bulk dose by six (patients/day), further compounded its mistake by multiplying that price by 1,560 (the quantity), and then multiplying that price by three (the three-year performance period), thereby incorrectly inflating its price by $...