SOURCES SOUGHT
66 -- Procurement of one Sony MA900 Cell Sorter or equivalent.
- Notice Date
- 3/16/2020 10:27:30 AM
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- NIH National Cancer Institute Rockville MD 20850 USA
- ZIP Code
- 20850
- Solicitation Number
- 75N91020Q00036
- Response Due
- 3/20/2020 8:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 04/04/2020
- Point of Contact
- Adam Hernandez, Phone: 2402765633
- E-Mail Address
-
adam.hernandez@nih.gov
(adam.hernandez@nih.gov)
- Description
- This Small Business Sources Sought Notice (SBSS) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to identify qualified small business concerns including 8(a), HUBZone or Service-Disabled Veteran-owned business concerns that are interested in and capable of performing the work described herein. The NCI does not intend to award a contract based on responses received nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted. 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 requirement is assigned North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 334516 with a size standard of 1,000 employees is being considered. NCI may issue a request for quotation (RFQ) as a result of this Sources Sought Notice. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against NCI shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought Notice or the NCI�s use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement. 1.0�BRAND NAME OR EQUAL This requirement is for the procurement of the brand name or equivalent instrument described in section 3.0. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.211-6, Brand Name or Equal (AUG 1999) is applicable to this requirement. 2.0 BACKGROUND The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Lymphoid Malignancies Branch (LYMB) requires the purchase of a Sony MA900 cell sorter, or equivalent. There are currently no cell sorters in LYMB that can sort samples from complex specimens on demand. The acquisition of this instrument will facilitate LYMB�s research to investigate the pathogenesis of lymphoid malignancies and identify therapeutic vulnerabilities in lymphoma. Regular access to a cell sorter is essential to all labs within LYMB. Current sorting within the branch is done through a shared core facility that currently cannot accommodate the needs of both laboratories due to lack of on-demand scheduling and limited amounts of continuous sort time.� Current projects within LYMB that would greatly benefit from regular access to a cell sorter include: 1. Sorting of tumor cells from mice spontaneously developing lymphomas in order to more fully characterize the genomic landscape of these tumors: �This project is actively developing and characterizing 3 genetically engineered mouse models that may develop B cell lymphomas spontaneously from anywhere from 8 months of age to 20 months of age. These tumors harbor conditional alleles that are modeled on mutations frequently found in human disease. It is often difficult to determine whether a mouse harbors an internal tumor prior to it developing visible signs of illness. When an animal does develop visible signs of illness, it usually needs to be euthanized within 24 hours. It is vital to LYMB�s research efforts to be able to sort tumor cells and other cells in the microenvironment for downstream applications such as RNA sequencing and whole exome sequencing to more fully characterize the genomic landscape of these malignancies. LYMB is currently unable to schedule sorts within a timeframe that would allow us to pursue these types of analyses in tumors as needed. 2. Sorting of rare populations of cells within the lymphoid tissues or the lymphoma tumor microenvironment: In some of LYMB�s studies we are interested in characterizing rare populations of lymphoid cells that require greater than 6 hours of sorting time to sort sufficient numbers of cells for needed applications. 3. Whole genome CRISPR screens based on expression of reporters or cell surface receptors:� Current efforts in this project area are focused on elucidating signaling pathways that are important for lymphoma survival using whole genome CRISPR screens. Previous efforts in the lab relied on screening methods based on cell survival, where lymphoma cell lines are transduced with a library of gRNA constructs and cultured for weeks and the enrichment or dropout of gRNAs is assessed. However, current efforts are aimed at developing more sophisticated screening methods to identify novel regulators of signaling or protein stability.� This can be done by utilizing a cell line expressing a fluorescently tagged gene of interest and transducing these cells with a library of gRNA constructs. Low and high expressors are then sorted and gRNAs in these sorted populations are sequenced to identify novel regulators of the protein of interest. Given that these screens are whole genome screens we regularly need to culture and sort 108 cells per sample to generate high quality data. These efforts have been severely limited by the lack of sufficient time available to sort multiple replicates of these large CRISPR screens on the core facility sorter. Moreover, the timing of these sorts is critical to the outcome since the kinetics of CRISPR-mediated knockout vary from gene to gene. Because of the multiple experimental steps that must happen before a sort (growing large quantities of cells, CRISPR library infection, puromycin selection and recovery, CRISPR induction), it is very difficult to schedule sort time weeks in advance with enough accuracy to pinpoint a day that will be 7 or 14 days after CRISPR-mediated deletion. 4. Generation of single cell clones LYMB would also be aided greatly by using a cell sorter to generate single cell clones of cell lines. LYMB requires better methods to select cells with the advent of CRISPR-mediated knocking of fluorescent tags on endogenous genes. 3.0 PRODUCT FEATURES/SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS The following product features/characteristics are required: The cell sorter shall use a disposable microfluidic flow cell and sorting nozzle (sorting chip). Sorting chips must be available in three nozzle sizes: 70 ?m, 100 ?m, and 130 ?m. The operator of the cell sorter must be able to easily optimize the cell sorter for different cell types by selecting the sorting chip with the appropriate nozzle size. To change the sorting chip, the operator must be able to simply insert the chip into the chip loading slot and initiate the completely automated setup routine. The cell sorter shall perform completely automated alignment and focusing of the sorting chip to the lasers and detectors (light scatter and fluorescence). The cell sorter shall perform completely automated laser delay calibration, droplet breakoff optimization, sort stream position adjustments, and sort delay calibration. The cell sorter shall perform completely automated sort monitoring with droplet breakoff control. An integrated high resolution video camera shall provide real-time monitoring and color-coded status information. The cell sorter shall maximize droplet breakoff stability by automatically maintaining the temperature of the sheath fluid as it is delivered to the sorting chip. The cell sorter shall provide a completely replaceable sample delivery path. The sample probe, sample line, and sorting chips must all disposable and available as sterile single-use items. The software shall include wizard-driven procedures for start-up, calibration, quality control, shut-down, sorting chip exchange, sample line exchange, maintenance, and cleaning procedures. The cell sorter shall include four lasers (488 nm, 638 nm, 405 nm and 561 nm). The 488 and 561 nm lasers shall be collinear and share the same detector set. The 405 and 638 nm lasers shall be collinear and share the same detector set. The cell sorter shall include 12 photomultiplier (PMT) detectors for fluorescence. The optical design shall allow for the detection of signals from the collinear 488/561 laser pair by any of the 5 PMTs assigned to the first laser spot and signals from the collinear 405/638 laser pair by any of the 7 PMTs assigned to the second laser spot. Collection optics shall support FITC, PE, PETR, PerCP-Cy5.5, and PE-Cy7 (or equivalents) excited by the 488/561 laser pair and BV421, BV510, BV570, BV605, APC or BV650, AF700 or BV711, and APC- Cy7 or BV785 (or equivalents) excited by the 405/638 laser pair. The cell sorter shall support a wide variety of sample delivery formats including 0.5 mL, 1.5 mL, 5 mL and 15 mL tubes. The sample chamber shall be able to be cooled to 5�C, left at ambient temperature, or heated to 37�C by an integrated thermoelectric system. Periodic automated sample mixing shall be available. The sort collection tube options shall include 1.5 mL, 5 mL, and 15 mL tubes. The cell sorter shall support 4-way sorting into 1.5 and 5 mL tubes and 2-way sorting into 15 mL tubes. The sort collection tubes shall be able to be cooled to 5�C by an integrated thermoelectric system or left at ambient temperature. The cell sorter shall include a Sort Deposition System (SDS). The SDS provides single and multi-cell sorting into 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 and 384-well culture plates or PCR tube arrays. The plate sorting option shall provide index sorting tools for single cell cloning applications. The index feature records and plots the measured light scatter and fluorescence intensities of each sorted cell. The well location and intensity values of each cell shall have the ability to be exported to a spreadsheet. The instrument shall include a fluidics cart that uses weight sensors to monitor the level of sheath fluid, waste fluid, water, bleach, and ethanol in each tank. The fluidics cart shall be on wheels for safe and easy manipulation of containers during fluid replacement or disposal. The cell sorter shall include a custom-fitted Class II Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC). The external dimensions of the BSC shall be: 46.5"" (118 cm) wide x 39"" (99 cm) deep x 88� (224 cm) high. The BSC shall include an integrated aerosol management system (AMS). The cell sorter shall include a computer workstation that can operate the cell sorter and save data. The cell sorter shall include an air compressor. The cell sorter shall include a power cord. The cell sorter shall include one box (40 count) of 100 um sorting chips. The cell sorter shall include 1 box of 40 cleaning chips. The cell sorter shall include 1 kit of automatic setup beads The cell sorter shall include sterile sheath fluid The cell sorter shall include 1 bag of 250 test tubes (12x75 mm) 3.1�DELIVERY / INSTALLATION Delivery shall be within 30 calendar days of purchase order award. Upon delivery, the Contractor shall notify the NCI Contracting Officer Representative (COR) to schedule the installation date and time that shall occur within 14 days after delivery. Installation shall be performed by, or under the direct supervision of, a certified operator. The Contractor shall deliver and install the equipment at the following address: 9000 Rockville Pike Building 10 Room 6N115 Bethesda, MD, 20892 3.2 TRAINING Within 30 days after installation, 2 days of training will be provided on-site for at least five primary users of the instrument. 3.3 WARRANTY A minimum of 12-months warranty from the date of installation shall be included, which covers the cost of repair and/or replacement, including labor or any defect in workmanship or parts. 4.0 RESPONSE DELIVERY POINT All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow the NCI to determine if it can meet the unique specifications described herein. All questions must be in writing and should be emailed to Adam Hernandez, Contract Specialist at adam.hernandez@nih.gov by 11:00 A.M. EST, Friday, March 20, 2020 (03/20/2020). A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement 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 System for Awards Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov. No collect calls will be accepted.�Please reference number 75N91020Q00036 on all correspondence. 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, an RFQ may be published. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
SAM.gov Permalink
(https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c09f7a0feb73417eb8b708cae5be8271/view)
- Record
- SN05590690-F 20200318/200316230150 (samdaily.us)
- Source
-
SAM.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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