Maryland Bids > Bid Detail

High Through-Put Liquid Handling Systems

Agency: HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
Level of Government: Federal
Category:
  • 66 - Instruments and Laboratory Equipment
Opps ID: NBD00159351076480847
Posted Date: Mar 21, 2023
Due Date: Apr 10, 2023
Solicitation No: NIAID-SS-23-2159463
Source: https://sam.gov/opp/3626e758de...
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High Through-Put Liquid Handling Systems
Active
Contract Opportunity
Notice ID
NIAID-SS-23-2159463
Related Notice
Department/Ind. Agency
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
Sub-tier
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Office
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIAID
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General Information
  • Contract Opportunity Type: Sources Sought (Original)
  • All Dates/Times are: (UTC-04:00) EASTERN STANDARD TIME, NEW YORK, USA
  • Original Published Date: Mar 21, 2023 01:04 pm EDT
  • Original Response Date: Apr 10, 2023 02:00 pm EDT
  • Inactive Policy: 15 days after response date
  • Original Inactive Date:
  • Initiative:
    • None
Classification
  • Original Set Aside:
  • Product Service Code: 6640 - LABORATORY EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
  • NAICS Code:
    • 334516 - Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
  • Place of Performance:
    Bethesda , MD 20814
    USA
Description

Introduction



This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement.



Project Summary



The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (LID), Structural Virology Section (SVS), is seeking to acquire two (2) High Through-Put Liquid Handling Systems. SVS works to elucidate mechanisms of hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry and replication, with the aim of informing development of vaccines, immune-based therapies, and other medical countermeasures for virus-mediated diseases. A key component of the SVS mission is to determine the structure of HCV surface glycoproteins bound to antibodies and cellular factors.



The SVS is using state-of-the-art structural biology techniques for X-ray crystallography and cryo electron microscopy. To determine a structure by X-ray crystallography requires the production of high-quality protein crystal. Ideal crystal growth conditions required iterative screening of many conditions. The High Through-Put Liquid Handling Systems are critical infrastructure to produce and screen hundreds of crystal growth conditions using minimal amounts of materials. The HCV glycoproteins are small and highly modified post translation, making them very challenging to produce. The instruments use nanoliter amounts of material for more efficient use of the challenging samples. These types of instruments are needed to fulfill this requirement.



Specifically, NIAID, LID, SVS is seeking two instruments capable of the following:



The High Through-Put Liquid Handling Systems use liquid dispensers with positive displacement of liquids for aspiration and non-contact dispensing with a minimum of six (6) dispensing syringes. The system can dispense nanoliter amounts of material, making optima use of precious and difficult to produce samples. Plastic consumable tips are automatically exchanged to minimize cross contamination of the sample.



The systems are necessary to produce the crystal growth conditions. The dispense system can handle a wide range liquid type from 80% ethanol through to 50% (w/v) glycerol, with NO requirement for liquid classification. Common biological assay components such as aqueous buffers, DMSO, beads, cells, or glycerol protein can be accommodated with this system.



1. Liquid handling systems:




  • Dispensing system: the system must use liquid dispensers with positive displacement of liquids for aspiration and non-contact dispensing with a minimum of six (6) dispensing syringes.

  • Pipetting system: the system must include a minimum of a 384-tip air-displacement pipetting head, working in a minimum range from 0.5uL to 125uL. Plastic consumable tips must be automatically exchanged by the system and available in 384, 96, 8, and 16 channel arrays, for flexibility to work with a wide variety of 96 and 384 well plates. The system must be able to automatically switch between these formats for flexibility.



2. Liquid class management




  • Dispenser Liquid classes: the dispense system must be capable of handling a wide range liquid type from 80% ethanol through to 50% (w/v) glycerol, with NO requirement for liquid classification. Common biological assay components such as aqueous buffers, DMSO, beads, cells, or glycerol protein stocks must all be dispensed using the same standard settings as well as particulates such as SPRI beads.



3. NIAID has limited space and requires an approximate small footprint 30 inches wide by 24 inches deep.



User Interface must be completely configurable to tailor the user experience from those requiring restricted access to run specific protocols only, to full open access to all features for Super users. Must be able to install the software on any windows device to author protocols virtually anywhere and send them to the system via a network or over the cloud.



4. The system must include fixed base configurations to share protocols between systems. Configuration must also include a microplate shaker and incubation capabilities.



5. Must be application ready with off the shelf protocols ready to use.



Anticipated Period of Performance



It is anticipated that an award will be made on or about May 12, 2023. Estimated lead time for delivery of Equipment is 60-90 days upon Vendor’s receipt of the purchase order.



Capability Statement/Information Sought



If your organization has the potential capacity to meet the minimum requirements and performance capabilities listed above, please provide the following information:




  1. Organization name, address, point of contact, email address, website address, telephone number, UEI number

  2. Company location(s) and number of years company has been in business

  3. Type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, Other than Small, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code

  4. Type of ownership for the organization

  5. Identification of any Best-In-Class contract vehicles including Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) (e.g., GSA schedule) they may possess or are aware of that would support this possible requirement. If your organization does not provide the products/services under a GWAC, please identify availability as OPEN MARKET ONLY.

  6. Tailored capability statement addressing the capability of the liquid handling systems to meet NIAID’s minimum requirements. Capability document shall be no more than six pages.

  7. Place of manufacture for the liquid handling systems and components

  8. Evidence that the organization is an authorized reseller or manufacturer of the instrument. Only Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) products are acceptable.



Submission Instructions



Interested businesses who consider themselves qualified to provide the above specification for the High Through-Put Liquid Handling Systems, are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by April 10, 2023, at 2:00 PM EST. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice shall be emailed to Daveta H. Brown at daveta.brown@nih.gov.



Disclaimer and Important Notes



This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.



Confidentiality



No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).


Attachments/Links
Contact Information
Contracting Office Address
  • 5601 FISHERS LANE, SUITE 3D11
  • BETHESDA , MD 20892
  • USA
Primary Point of Contact
Secondary Point of Contact
History
  • Mar 21, 2023 01:04 pm EDTSources Sought (Original)

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