Inactive

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute of Neurological... THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Agilent Technologies, Inc., for a Cytation C10 Confocal Live Cell Imaging Reader NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE and SET ASIDE STATUS The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with a Size Standard of 1,000 employees. REGULATORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements. FAR Subpart 13.106-1 (b) Soliciting from a single source provides that: For purchases NOT exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, Contracting officers may solicit from one source IF the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name OR industrial mobilization). The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular 2022-05 dated March 07, 2022. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIRMENT The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) The NIH Stem Cell Unit (SCU) was established to characterize human pluripotent stem cells and currently provide collaborative services to researchers. As part of our mission, we routinely differentiate fluorescently labeled as well as unlabeled stem cells into different lineages using 2D and 3D culture techniques. Our current Live Cell Imaging system, Agilent Cytation C5, only has widefield imaging capability. We wish to replace it with a newer model which has confocal imaging capability as well as upgraded features and is compatible with existing automatic incubation system and various objective lenses. A firm-fixed price type contract is planned for this acquisition CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION DETERMINATION The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted in accordance with FAR part 10. Accordingly, it is determined that the equipment required is only available from one source, and competition is precluded for the reasons indicated below. The systems we considered from Thermo Fisher, Leica and Olympus were not compatible with existing objectives, LED, and filters for Cytation C5, the live cell imaging system the NIH Stem Cell Unit currently owns. They also weren’t compatible with BioSpa8, the automatic incubation system currently owned by the NIH Stem Cell Unit. Further, the systems from the aforementioned three companies did not contain the following salient characteristics integral to fulfilling the research mission: Must have confocal imaging capability; Must have user-friendly software interface; Must have multi-mode plate reader; and Must be budget-friendly (under $150,000). The intended source is: Agilent Technologies, Inc., 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95051 CLOSING STATEMENT THIS SYNOPSIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) assigned by SAM.gov, the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number in this notice. Responses must be submitted electronically to Tiffany Stone, Contract Specialist at Tiffany.Stone@nih.gov . U.S. Mail and fax responses will not be accepted.