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Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation. This will be awarded as a firm-fixed price type of contract.
Delivery to Bethesda, Maryland 20892 approximately 120 days after receipt and acceptance of award.
The Center of Human Immunology, Autoimmunity and Inflammation (CHI) has a requirement for a Fluent 780 Cell Staining Workstation to allow for fully automated, high throughput cell staining. This new equipment will expand the CHI capabilities in immunophenotyping. Reducing manual labor to increase staff productivity and quality work. The automated cell staining system design was based on the manual protocol currently used at the CHI. The protocol requires transfer of washed cells from 96 conical tubes into a deep well plate, splitting sample between 4 plates. Following steps include temperature-controlled shaking, incubations in the dark and centrifugations. Having all these steps automated is crucial as user interference can introduce errors, like switching tubes or sample plates. The Fluent 780 platform has incredible deck capacity that allows to accommodate custom rack for ninety-six 15-mL conical tubes, few microplate thermal shakers and multiple plate positions. Incubations in the dark can be done in drawers under the deck. Centrifuge, integrated with the Fluent 780 system, can also be used for incubations, followed by centrifugations. Located on the floor under the deck, centrifuge can be loaded and unloaded by extended robotic gripper arm. All these features allow to configure the instrument for fully automated process. Fluent 780 perform multiple tasks simultaneously with fast, independent, task-specific arms that work in parallel. Tecan's patented Path Finder technology automatically calculates the optimal route for each arm, every time, ensuring that runs are completed quickly and efficiently. In addition to that, Fluent 780 has an integrated barcode scanner for sample tracking. The vendor Tecan U.S. does not have any resellers or distributors in the United States and Tecan U.S. is the only source for the Fluent 780 Cell Staining Workstation.
The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 253 (c) (1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 only one source available, no substitutions possible. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTATIONS. All responsible sources who can provide the same or similar equipment may submit a capability statement that could be considered by email (subject line to reference NIAID-NOI-18-1918888) to Tonia Alexander at [email protected], by 1:00 pm eastern standard time Monday, September 17, 2018. All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow NIAID to determine if it can meet the above unique specifications described herein. All responses received by the closing date of this solicitation will be considered by the Government. A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.