SOURCES SOUGHT
66 -- High Resolution and High Content Bio-Imager for NINDS
- Notice Date
- 5/16/2018
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4211, MSC 9559, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-9559, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20892-9559
- Solicitation Number
- SBSS-NIH-NIDA-18-4953086
- Archive Date
- 5/29/2018
- Point of Contact
- Jason Williams, Phone: 3014965985, Nancy Lamon-Kritikos, Phone: 301-480-2447
- E-Mail Address
-
Jason.Williams1@nih.hhs.gov, nancy.lamon-kritikos@nih.gov
(Jason.Williams1@nih.hhs.gov, nancy.lamon-kritikos@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. If your organization is not a small business, there is no need to respond to this announcement. For purposes of this announcement, a small business concern, in addition to meeting the small business size standard for the applicable NAICS code, is defined as "any business entity organized for profit with a place of business located in the United States or its outlying areas and that makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes and/or use of American products, material and/or labor, etc." The purpose of this notice is to obtain Capability Statements from small businesses directly addressing their ability to provide a product that meets all of the Salient Characteristics contained in the Purchase Description. In general, the Government is seeking 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; and (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 whether a small business set-aside is possible for this acquisition (or if the acquisition can be further set-aside for one of the socio-economic categories of small businesses). 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. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) CODE: The NAICS code applicable to this requirement is 334516 - ANALYTICAL LABORATORY INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURING. The corresponding small business size standard is 1,000 or fewer employees. Background Information: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation's leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability, conducting, supporting and making medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducting research into the cause, treatment, and prevention of neurological disorders. The NINDS mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. Statement of Need and Purpose: The purpose of this acquisition is to acquire a resolution and high content Bio-imager instrument for the Neuro Therapeutics Development Unit, (NTDU), Translational Neuroscience Center, NINDS. We will incorporate the use of the new imager into our screening and bio-analysis workflow in order to achieve our goals of identifying, characterizing and developing of new and novel therapeutics for neurological diseases and infections of the nervous system. This work involves high resolution acquisition and high content analysis of our human neuronal cultures, which mimic the neurodegenerative states that are under investigation. These studies require a high resolution bio-imaging instrument to generate and analyze the photomicrographs of the human neuronal cultures in 96 and 384 well plates. This new imaging instrument will facilitate the NTDU completing our goals by replacing our current INCell Analyzer 2000, whose performance has deteriorated with age and the INCell 2000 machine has been discontinued and will no longer be supported by the company. Background Information and Objective The NINDS NTDU develops and utilizes automated medium-high throughput assays to identify potential novel therapeutic compounds. In this capacity, the lab can screen libraires of small compounds in both rodent and human neuronal cell culture models of neurodegenerative disorders like ALS motor neuron disease, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and neuronal cell models of neurologic infections from agents like HIV, Zika virus, human endogenous retroviruses and even Ebola virus. The Lab requires a high speed and high content image acquisition and analysis system capable of acquiring and analyzing hundreds/thousands of photomicrographs from neuronal cultures which have been exposed to various chemical and biological toxins to represent or mimic neurologic disease. These neurons will also be treated with potential therapeutic agents in an effort to block these neurotoxicities, and to quantitate the neuroprotective potential of these agents. The NTDU requires the ability to conduct cellular assays in a high throughput imaging and analysis format, conducting more complex experiments and increasing the number of questions we can ask while simultaneously decreasing the time taken to achieve results. Our workhorse widefield Bio-imager, the GE INCell Analyzer 2000 has been used daily for more than 5 years to complete the automated and unbiased image capture of our rodent and now human neuronal cultures. We have captured these fluorescent and brightfield images of neuronal cultures that have been exposed to: a) viruses like HIV and Zika, b) viral neurotoxic proteins like HIV Tat and HERV-K envelope, and c) chemical (3-NP, NMDA, H2O2)/protein toxins (Ab40, Ab42 and Tat peptides) that are used to mimic neurotoxicity that is relevant to neurodegenerative disorders like ALS, PD and AD. Data that we've generated from this bio-imager has been instrumental in our studies of human endogenous retrovirus envelope mediated toxicity and neuronal death (Science Trans Med 2015), HIV Tat-Ab40 interactions and toxicity (Nature Struct Mol Bio 2017) as well as other studies on Zika virus/protein neurotoxicity, Tat Antagonists and HERV-K env neutralizing and neuroprotective antibodies that we are now writing for publication. The INCell 2000 has been discontinued and will only be supported by GE until the end of 2017, and a recent instrument failure required more than one month to repair because of the difficulty in finding needed the spare parts to complete the repair. Additional repairs that are likely to be required because of the extensive use of this imager will become nearly impossible after 8 more months. We propose to replace the INCell 2000 with the new bio-imager like the GE INCell Analyzer 2500HS, the newly released and highly improved bioimager (or similar high content imaging instrument from other vendors). Besides the improved speed and resolution of the 2500HD, many imaging features and methodologies of the original 2000 in terms of instrument use, data acquisition, image analysis and maintenance are continued in the new instrument, thus the transition to the new 2500 instrument would be seemless. This new instrument would become the new workhorse for high content imaging and analysis for our NeuroTherapeutics Development Unit. Sample Products: Along with the GE INCell Analyzer 2500HS, a number of other advanced high sensitivity and high throughput imagers are also available. These instruments would include the Molecular Devices ImageXpress Micro 4 widefield imager, the Perkin Elmer Operetta CLS, the Carl Zeiss Cell Discoverer and the Thermo Cellomics CellInsight CX7 LZR. Each of these instruments are highly advanced and greatly improved bio-imagers and will be included in this acquisition proposal for consideration. Our preliminary research evaluation suggests that they may meet the technical requirements that would be needed to complete our research project goals of the NTDU. Generic Name of Product : High Resolution and High Content Bio-imager Generic Description: High Content Analysis (HCA) Platform with a fast, automated cellular imaging and analysis platform designed for quantitative microscopy and phenotypic screening. This system has to include 4X through 40X objectives, an environmental chamber with controlled humidity to facilitate live cell imaging and analysis, laser-based autofocus, high resolution phase contrast imaging in addition to fluorescence based imaging. Salient characteristics Offered product shall meet the Salient Characteristics below: •Bio-imager system must have either an LED system-10,000 hour lifetime for LED light engine or a Multi-color Laser-based imaging system is also acceptable •System must have either the latest high resolution cooled CCD camera or sCMOS camera with greater than ~70% quantum efficiency. •System must have 4X, 10X, 20X and 40X objectives. Additional objectives, such as 1-2X or 60X objectives maybe added at later date. •System must have laser based autofocus methods to accommodate a broad range of sample types and consumables on the platform. •System must have multiple Imaging modes including 2D, 2.5D and 3D with deconvolution, time series & maximum projection. •System must have environmental control for Live-Cell options: CO2 control and/or CO2-O2 control. •System must have Imaging capability in the UV to near IR wavelength ranges. •System must be capable of Imaging in SBS standard microplates, including 6 well through 96 well plates, plus 384 and 1536 well plates. Imaging in chamber slides and standard glass slide modes. •System should have some form of a Scan preview - Fast, low resolution scanning to locate biology for optimal placement of field of view. •System should have some kind of Smart Scan & Spheroid Finder - Control software GUI enables initial low magnification scan of plate to detect biology of interest, followed by second, high magnification scan of only those wells or fields of view which contain that biology. Saves time required for imaging and analysis while also minimizing data storage burden. •System should have some Automated Correction Collars for selected objective lenses - •System should have 3D Frame - Optimized focal settings for collecting Z-stacks of spheroids, organoids or thick, asymmetrical objects. •A system with the ability to image in 3D with confocality is a highly desired feature. •System should be upgradeable to confocal imaging at a future date. •System should function in manual microscope mode - allows the user to switch objectives, filters, focus, fields of view on the fly as would be conducted in a manual system. •System should have high NA air objectives that allow for high resolution imaging in all wells of the plate. •-System should have the ability to precisely adjust field of view (FOV) by click and drag. •Adaptive determination of object location in z for analysis. •System must have High resolution analysis software-integrated for image acquisition and data analysis. The analysis must be able to provide quantitative image analysis in high resolution phase contrast images as well as fluorescent images of human neurons. Analysis of morphologic parameters in high resolution images of human neuronal processes and dendritic spines is required. •System must come with two (2) licenses for the analysis software. •Extensive technical training in use of new acquisition and analysis software onsight following installation is required. • On site installation, testing and training of NINDS staff on use of the equipment is required. Quantit y 1 high resolution bio-imager Delivery Schedule: The Contractor shall deliver the equipment within 90 days after receipt of order. Delivery must be FOB destination. The equipment shall be delivered inside during normal working hours (from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM local prevailing time, Monday through Friday). On site installation, testing and training of NINDS staff on use of equipment is required prior to final acceptance. Contractor shall indicate in their proposal timeline for on-site installation, testing and training of NINDS staff on use of equipment. Delivery Location: National Institutes of Health NINDS/NTDU Building 10, Room 7C214 10 Center Drive Bethesda, MD 20892 Installation, testing, and training of NINDS staff on use of equipment shall occur on site and prior to final acceptance. Warranty: The contractor shall provide, at a minimum, a one (1) year warranty on this instrument. All products shall be warranted to be free from material defects in workmanship or material under normal use and service for the warranty period Contract Type: A firm fixed price type contract is anticipated for this acquisition. Capability Statement / Information Sought: Small business Contractors that believe they possess the ability to provide the required products should submit documentation of their ability to meet the project requirements, addressing the Salient Characteristics contained in this announcement (a generic marketing brochure would likely not be sufficient to demonstrate a source's capability to meet the stated requirements) to the Contracting Officer. Contractors should also provide their Company Name, DUNS number, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information and if applicable, Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract number. Interested organizations are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration definitions and guidelines. Additionally, please indicate the country of manufacture of the product your organization can offer to meet the stated requirements. 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 Small Business Sources Sought notice number. All capability statements sent in response to this Small Business Sources Sought Notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Jason Williams, Contracting Officer, at willjas@nida.nih.gov. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. The response must be received on or before May 25, 2018 at 5:00 PM EST. Note: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your 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 review of the responses received, pre-solicitation and solicitation notices may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. The solicitation release date is pending. The Government intends to negotiate a fixed-price contract.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIDA-01/SBSS-NIH-NIDA-18-4953086/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Contractor's facility, Installation, testing and training on occur at NIH main campus in Bethesda, MD, United States
- Record
- SN04925524-W 20180518/180516231335-acc11683e71c09a1e99962e1d9a4722a (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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