The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR) plans to procure the brand name BD FACSAria II Cell Sorter with BD Biosciences, 2350 Qume Drive, San Jose, CA 95131.

This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR 13.106-1(b)(2) and 13.501-(a)(1) to use simplified procedures for commercial acquisitions. The North American Industry Classification System Code is 334516 and the business size standard is 500 employees.

Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation.

The purpose of this procurement is to procure a BD Biosciences FACSAria II Cell Sorter. A new cell sorter is needed for the NCI Flow Core facility to fulfill its purpose of infectious cell sorting. The BD FACS Aria II is the only known cell sorter on the market designed for infectious cell sorting which is able to meet all the salient characteristics described below.

Facts and Reasons to Justify Other than Full and Open Competition

1. Statute

Statute: 41 U.S.C. 253 (1) as set forth in FAR 13.106-(b)(2) and 13.501-(a)(1)

(b) Solicitation from a single source.

(2) For Sole source acquisition of commercial items in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold conducted pursuant to subpart 13.5, the requirements at 13.501(a) apply.

No other requirement and/or type for supply or service will satisfy agency need.

2. Sole Source Justification:

Salient characteristics which apply to the BD FACSAria II Cell Sorter:

• Incorporates a cuvette/flow cell that is gel coupled to the fluorescence objective lens;
• Uses a bead based automated drop delay calculation;
• Incorporates cytometer setup and tracking (CS&T) software;
• Requires only on single 120 vac electrical connection to be completely operational;
• The ability to be upgraded to have a single cell-cloning unit that is temperature controlled;
• Supports online mixing of the samples during acquisition;
• Includes a self-contained Fluidic Cart;
• Supports nozzle-specific sort setup;
• Rinses the inside and outside of the sample line after each sample is run;
• Uses Octagon and Trigon technology for fluorescence detection

The cuvette based sorting flow cell in the BD FACSAria II minimizes dangerous aerosols when compared to the obsolete "jet-in-air" design of cell sorters from other manufacturers. Since all of the existing instruments in the NCI Flow Core facility are from BD Biosciences, it is in the best interest of the researchers to use the same platform when sorting their samples. The FACSAria II utilizes the same optical configuration as the BD LSRII and FACSCanto instruments currently in the facility. This allows for the use of the same reagents for analysis and cell sorting, saving the cost of purchasing separate reagents for cell sorting. BD Biosciences is the only known source which has local field service engineer support in place (6 engineers) to be able to provide rapid response to NIH/NCI laboratories. This is a critical reason for choosing BD Biosciences as instrument uptime and fast time to repair are critical. The BD FACSAria II is the only known instrument that meets all of the above requirements.

This is not a solicitation for competitive quotations. However, if any interested party believes they can meet the above requirement, they may submit a statement of capabilities. All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow the NCI to determine if it can meet the above unique specifications described herein. An original and one copy of the capability statement must be received in the NCI contracting office on or before 11:00 AM EST on December 19, 2008. All questions must be in writing and can be faxed (301) 402-4513 or emailed to Melissa Marino, Contract Specialist at [email protected]. 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. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. In order to receive an award, contractors must have valid registration and certification in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) www.ccr.gov and the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA), http://orca.bpn.gov. No collect calls will be accepted. Please reference solicitation number NCI-90020-MM on all correspondence.