This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations.
The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition.
Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice.
This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.
Background: The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Division of Preclinical Innovation (DPI) RSC group requires a service agreement for instruments used in the High Throughput Screening lab. A key element of high throughput screening is the addition of compounds into plates. A critical piece of equipment used at NCATS to do so is a pintool, which can rapidly add a fixed amount of compound to a plate at one time through capillary action. After this compound addition step, the most critical portion of operating a pin tool is to clean the pins off to prevent cross contamination once it is time for them to be used again. The purpose of this acquisition is to obtain service agreements on the IonField 1536 TipChargers, the main component of the TipCharger where the pins are actually cleaned. The TipCharger utilizes room temperature plasma technology to quantitatively clean pins better than the traditional solvent based wash methods.
There are several key electrical and other components within the controller and the TipCharger itself which need to be maintained and in working order to continue to allow NCATS to generate quality data. Having the service agreement and preventative maintenance (PM) will ensure the device and all of its parts will be repaired in a timely manner when necessary minimizing down time therefore allowing the important research to continue uninterrupted.
Purpose and Objectives: This request is for a contractor to provide a base year service agreement with 1 option year on 4 of the 1536 TipCharger cleaning units and a PurePLATE MCS plate washer which are integrated onto the Hamamatsu FDSS7000EX on the Tox robot and one of the pintools on the primary robotic screening system respectively.
This superior washing method has greatly reduced compound carryover from plate to plate, produces cleaner data, minimizes contamination to cells, is beneficial for assays which have DMSO sensitivity and additionally has significantly cut back on the amount of DMSO solvent waste we are producing. This has benefited the Tox21 group and other biology groups at NCATS immensely when running calcium channel assays on the FDSS and has severely cut down on the amount of rescreens necessary which helps avoid wasting additional time, reagents and consumables.
The TipCharger integrated onto the pintool on the primary screening robot is in use on a daily basis and cleans the pins used for compound transfer on approximately 500 assay plates each week. It is imperative that this piece of equipment is covered under a service agreement which includes hardware replacement, labor and a preventative maintenance (PM) visit.
Project requirements: Service Agreement for IonField 1536 TipCharger – Hamamatsu unit
Service Agreement for IonField 1536 TipCharger – Pin Tool unit
Service Agreement for IonField 1536 TipCharger – FLIPR#2 unit
Service Agreement for IonField 1536 TipCharger – Backup unit
Service Agreeent for PurePLATE MCS plate washer
Unit 1 is installed in a Hamamatsu FDSS, Unit 2 is installed in the Core Lab Pin Tool Station, Unit 3 is installed in the newer Molecular Devices FLIPR. Unit 4 is a newer 1536 TipCharger purchased with the newer FLIPR.
The hardware does not have any components needing end user adjustment. Products covered by the service agreement shall be inspected annually to assess system status and check performance.
All service must be provided by IonField Systems-certified technicians.
Anticipated period of performance: The required base period of performance is a base period of 12 months after award with one 12-month option period.
Capability statement /information sought.
Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Small businesses must also provide their Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information.
Interested small businesses are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number.
The respondent must also provide their Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.
One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.
The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.
The response is limited to ten (10) page limit. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.
The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.
All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.
The response must be submitted to Emily Palombo, Contract Specialist, at e-mail address Emily.palombo@nih.gov.
The response must be received on or before March 28, 2025, 9:00 am, Eastern Time.
“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 presolicitation 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).”
