Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Stainer

The Defense Health Agency is procuring a Roche BenchMark Ultra Plus Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Stainer on a sole-source basis under FAR 3304(a)(1) and GSAR 538.7104-3(b)(ii) due to the system’s unique technical capabilities that no other vendor can match. The contract, awarded as a Firm Fixed Price agreement with an estimated value of $15,500,000, spans a five-year period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2031, and is intended to equip the 96th Medical Group at Eglin Air Force Base in Goulds, Florida, with an automated diagnostic tool to replace reliance on outsourced lab services. The system must fully automate all IHC processing steps—including deparaffinization, target retrieval, and staining—with a minimum capacity of 30 slides per run, continuous loading for STAT samples, concurrent multi-protocol support, overnight processing of up to 90 slides per shift, and minimal daily maintenance requirements, all of which are non-negotiable and serve as binary pass/fail criteria for acceptance. No competitive acquisition was conducted as market research confirmed the absence of any commercially available alternative capable of meeting these technical specifications, particularly Roche’s proprietary workflow and reagent integration. The contract’s place of performance is in Goulds, Florida, with the contracting office located in San Antonio, Texas, and payments will be processed under the existing Federal Supply Schedule GS-07F-0446V held by Roche Diagnostics. While the contract includes option periods and a future Notice of Intent will be published to promote small business awareness, no detailed line-item pricing, packaging requirements, inspection standards, or specific quality metrics beyond the mandatory technical functions were provided. The point of contact for the contract is Karen Bradley, with Tina Turner as secondary, and while no formal contract clauses, representations, certifications, or payment instructions are included in the documentation, the acquisition remains fully justified under the sole-source authority citing the irreplaceable functionality of the Roche system.