Sole Source Notification - LHASA Software for Cosmetic Chemical Safety Assessment Support Package

This Special Notice is a Notice of Intent to Sole Source issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Medical Assistance Services (OMAS) - Information Technology, on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Cosmetics and Colors (OCAC). The agency intends to negotiate a sole-source contract with Lhasa Ltd, based in the United Kingdom, for a one-year software license with four 12-month option periods, spanning from July 31, 2026, to July 30, 2031. The acquisition is for the LHASA software package, a proprietary computational system used for cosmetic chemical risk and safety assessments. Because most modern cosmetic ingredients submitted for safety reviews lack experimental toxicity data, OCAC relies on LHASA’s expert rule-based and predictive modeling tools to identify and evaluate chemical analogs. The required package includes the Derek Nexus, Sarah Nexus, Meteor Nexus, and Vitic Nexus modules, which collectively provide predictive modeling, machine learning, metabolic pathway predictions, and curated toxicity databases. Lhasa Ltd. is the developer and sole provider of this software, and no other platform offers an equivalent combination of expert-reviewed knowledge bases and curated data. Consequently, procuring an alternative would cause substantial cost duplication, operational disruption, and compatibility issues. Although this is not a competitive solicitation, capable sources may submit capability statements to Raja Seshadri at raja.seshadri@hhs.gov by July 23, 2026, to be considered by the government.