Live Cell Analysis System

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is HHS-NIH-NIDA-RFQ-20-004945 the solicitation is issued as a request for quotes. This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. THIS IS A NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) COMBINED SYNOPSIS SOLICITATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition (OA), on behalf of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), intends to negotiate and award a firm fixed price purchase order without providing for full and open competition (including brand-name) to a company that is able to provide an Essen Bioscience brand Live Cell Analysis System. Essen Bioscience is located at 300 West Morgan Road, Ann Arbor MI 48108. This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive for a commercial item or service and is pursuant to (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1). The rationale for the brand name justification is that this system is the only instrument that can track live cells using phase contrast as well as fluorescence in their controlled environment for cell growth, determine live cell density, and determine adherent from non-adherent cells. The Live Cell Analysis System parts listed herein must be compatible with the IncuCyte NeuroTrack Software Module for S3 or ZOOM and similar parts and equipment. Vendor shall provide the unique qualifications of the equipment and software noted to meet the governments needs. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clause are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2020-02, with effective date March 30, 2020. The associated NAICS code is 334516 and the small business size standard is 1,000 employees. This requirement will be solicited as a Total Small Business Set-Aside. The purpose of this requirement is to provide NIA with a Live Cell Analysis System. The required system will be used to identify converging mechanisms of disease across hundreds of isogenic iPSC-derived CNS cell types through analyzing cell growth and optimizing protocols. The unit will be taking live images as the cells mature in a controlled environment. The system shall fit into any standard incubator. Salient characteristics of the requested Live-Cell Analysis System are as follows: The Optics shall be mobile and move to the areas being imaged. The cell culture vessels shall remain stationary during this process. The objectives shall not need to be adjusted for any reason and shall capable of imaging in parallel any mixture of 6 assay plates that conform to the ANSI/SLAS standard for assay plates. These include 384-well microplates, 96-well microplates, 48-well plates, 24-well plates, 12-well plates, and 6-well plates. It shall accommodate the following (but is not limited to the following) plastic tissue culture vessels: 92.6 cm2 Roboflask, 500 cm2 Tripleflask, 84 cm2 Autoflask, 225 cm2 flasks, 185 cm2 flasks, 182 cm2 flasks, 175 cm2 flasks, 162 cm2 flasks, 150 cm2 flasks, 75 cm2 flasks, 25 cm2 flasks, 35mm dishes, 60 mm dishes, 100mm dishes, 150mm dishes, chambered slides and microslides. The system shall provide fully automated, hands-free operation for periods exceeding 25 days and must be designed to autofocus and autoexposure without intervention during this time period. The system shall return the optics to the same location in a repeated fashion without error over this same time period. The software package shall have all the tools necessary to perform automated acquisition and subsequent viewing and analysis for 2D cultures. Purpose-built add-ons shall be available to easily address specific applications such as 3D spheroid cultures, chemotaxis, scratch wound migration, neurite outgrowth, and angiogenesis. The software shall be capable of generating label free, time based, growth curves for cells in 2D and spheroid cultures. Mask, quantify and generate time-based curves based on fluorescence metrics from thousands of images using an intuitive interface including but not limited to: Fluorescent Count, Fluorescent Average Area, Fluorescent Total Area, Fluorescent Confluence, Fluorescent Mean Intensity, Fluorescent Average Integrated Intensity, Fluorescent Total Integrated Intensity, and Fluorescent Eccentricity. The high definition phase contrast optics and two fluorescent wavelengths (red: ex565-605nm, em625-705nm; green: ex440-480nm, em504-544nm). The fluorescence optics shall be capable of reading, YoYo-3, mKate2, GFP, Alexa 488, intercalating DNA dyes, fluorescein or fluorescein derivatives. The live-cell analysis system shall have a fluorescence calibration system that allows for comparison of fluorescence-based metrics derived from images on one instrument to metrics derived from images on another instrument. The fluorescence calibration system shall allow for comparison of fluorescence-based metrics derived from images on one instrument to metrics derived from images on another instrument. The calibration system also enables comparison of intensity values for images that are captured with different objectives and at different acquisition times. Last, calibration shall enable automated correction of camera offset, illumination shape, and background signal from sources such as light leakage and auto-fluorescence of optical elements (e.g., dark-field and flat-field corrections). The analysis system shall have high definition optics of the system that image standard 384 well tissue culture plates without any sidewall or meniscus effects. The system shall have the following objectives on an automated turret: 4x PLAN, 10x PLAN FLUOR, and 20x PLAN FLUOR. The system shall have a CMOS detector with low read noise and detector with linear response to changes in fluorescence. The solution shall include onsite Installation and Training The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated delivery date is 60 days after receipt of order (ARO). Delivery will be f.o.b. destination. The place of delivery and acceptance will be 35 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20814. The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of provision) The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Jul 2016) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Oct 2018) FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Oct 2018) FAR 52.222-22, Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports (Feb 1999) FAR 52.225-4, Buy American-Free Trade Agreements-Israel Trade Act Certificate (May 2014) HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015) The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of clause) The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Jul 2016) FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (Oct 2018). HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015) The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text: FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (Mar 2020) Standard NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (2/2014) Interim NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (4/2020) The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) technical capability of the item offered to meet the Government requirement; (ii) price. Technical capability is significantly more important than price. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.” Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its offer. There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition. The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. Responses to this solicitation must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. The price quote shall include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, delivery days after contract award, delivery terms, prompt payment discount terms, F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), product or catalog number(s), product description, and any other information or factors that may be considered in the award decision. Such factors may include past performance, special features required for effective program performance, trade-in considerations, probable life of the item selected as compared with that of a comparable item, warranty considerations, maintenance availability, and environmental and energy efficiency considerations. Respondents that believe that they are manufacturers or authorized resellers of the brand-name product specified in this announcement must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in the purchase description; quantity; estimated price or cost; shipping, handling, and/or installation charges; and delivery date after receipt of order. The Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All offers must be received by Friday, June 19, 2020 at 12:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) and must reference solicitation number HHS-NIH-NIDA-RFQ-20-004945. Responses must be submitted electronically to Diedra Prophet at [email protected] . Fax responses will not be accepted. The name of the individual to contact for information regarding the solicitation: Diedra Prophet, Contract Specialist, [email protected] Karen Mahon, Contracting Officer, [email protected]