Identification of biomarkers of exposure in users of electronic cigarette and cannabis products

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

Title:

Identification of biomarkers of exposure in users of electronic cigarette and cannabis products

Solicitation Number: 1000213161

1. The Purpose and Explanation of an ACAN

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows Health Canada to post a notice for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that a goods, services or construction contract will be awarded to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the minimum requirements identified in the ACAN, the Contracting Authority may then proceed to award a contract to the pre-identified contractor.

2. Rights of Suppliers

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services or goods described in this ACAN may submit a Statement of Capabilities demonstrating how they meet the advertised requirement. This Statement of Capabilities must be provided via e-mail only to the contact person identified in Section 12 of the Notice on or before the closing date and time of the Notice. If the Bidder can clearly demonstrate they possess the required capabilities, the requirement will be opened to electronic or traditional bidding processes.

3. Proposed Contractor

Université de Sherbrooke

Département Pédiatrie Faculté de Médecine

3001, 12^e avenue Nord

Sherbrooke, Quebec

J1H 5N4

4. Definition of Requirements or Expected Results

Electronic vaping products (EVPs), or e-cigarettes, are an alternative to conventional tobacco products and their popularity is rapidly increasing due to the assumption that they are less harmful than conventional cigarettes. EVPs are now used by hundreds of thousands of Canadians to obtain nicotine. E-cigarettes, with or without nicotine, were legalized in Canada in May 2018 for manufacturing and sales. E-cigarettes contain several harmful chemicals including nicotine, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) along with a mix of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin often expressed as a PG/VG ratio. Nicotine poses several health hazards including the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as decreased immune response. It also affects cellular oxidative stress, apoptosis, proliferation and DNA mutation by various mechanisms. While the potential toxicants associated with e-cigarette aerosols are much lower than conventional tobacco cigarette smoke, available information on short and long-term effects of e-cigarettes use on human health is scarce. Cannabis is one of the most popular recreational drugs globally, along with alcohol, caffeine and tobacco. Around the world, different laws and regulations are in place to control cannabis use. Canada legalized recreational use of cannabis recently, in October 2018. Use of cannabis typically involves the release of several harmful and toxic compounds, which include flavonoids, hydrocarbons, non-cannabinoid phenols, and terpenes. These chemicals are inhaled and eventually end up in the lungs or bloodstream. Several studies have shown short-term use of cannabis results in impaired short-term memory loss, impaired safety while driving, and increased heart rate and risk of stroke. Moreover, long-term use of cannabis is associated with chronic bronchitis and an increased risk of chronic psychosis-related health disorders, including schizophrenia.

In this study, data on biomarkers in urine samples will be generated from users of e- cigarette and cannabis products. The contractor will be responsible for developing analytical methods, where required, for quantitative analysis of biomarkers of exposure in users of e-cigarette and cannabis products. The data generated on biomarkers of exposure will help inform risk assessment processes and decisions.

Tasks, Activities, Deliverables and/or Milestones

1. Method development and validation for analysis of biomarkers in urine samples from users of e-cigarettes and cannabis products. See list of chemicals in Annex 1 and 2 (October 30, 2019)

2. Sample preparation and instrumental analysis according to procedures available at the Biomonitoring laboratory, Health Canada (January 30, 2020).

3. Data analysis and reporting with sample identification and corresponding levels of each compound, including the method detection limits (MDLs) (March 10, 2020).

5. Minimum Requirements

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a Statement of Capabilities that it meets the following minimum requirements:

The principal investigator:

a) Must have a PhD in chemistry or in a related field.

(b) Must have a minimum of seven (7) years of significant experience in human biomonitoring of environmental contaminants/chemicals and at least 7 relevant scientific manuscripts published in the last ten (10) years in peer reviewed scientific journals.

(c) Must make available, a fully trained, postdoctoral analytical chemist, able to work full-time in Health Canada’s Exposure and Biomonitoring Division laboratories until 2020-03-31 and who has at least 3-years’ experience performing quantitative LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS method development and analyses, hands on experience in analytical instruments such as Waters Quattro micro GC, Agilent 7000C Triple Quadrupole GC/MS and Waters UPLC-TQD-MS

d) Must be able to undertake all activities within the identified period of time.

6. Reason for Non-Competitive Award

Section 6 of the Government Contracts Regulations contains four exceptions that permit the contracting authority to set aside the requirement to solicit bids. For the proposed procurement, the following exception applies:

(d) Only One Person or Firm is capable of performing the contract.

7. Applicable trade Agreements and Justification for Limited Tendering or the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business

This requirement is not subject to any trade agreements.

8. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Crown will own IP.

9. Period of the Proposed Contract

The contract period shall be from date of contract award until March 31, 2020.

10. Estimated Value of the Proposed Contract

The estimated value of the proposed contract is $74,095.20.

11. Closing Date and Time

The Closing Date and Time for accepting Statements of Capabilities is August 20, 2019, 2PM EST.

12. Contact Person

All enquiries must be addressed by e-mail to:

Name: Yvonne Murphy
E-Mail: yvonne.murphy@canada.ca