Instruments & Laboratory Equipment / Nikon Confocal Microscope System

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Vaccine Research Center (VRC) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY, 11747 to procure Nikon A1Si Confocal Microscope System with 32 channel spectral detector, 4 channel GaAsP detector unit and 8-line combiner that is to include an Eclipse TiE inverted microscope, Objective and DIC components, Motorized encoded stage with fixed slide and universal holder, NIS-Elements software for Confocal and TIRF with offline license, PC Workstation, air table, Wavelength switchable EPI light source for FURA and transmitted (DIC) shutter, and a Robotic wellplate loader with 4-slide holder cassettes (four 1x3 slides in wellplate format). This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR Part 13.501(a)(1). 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 60 to 90 days after receipt of award. The VRC lab is currently using a 4-laser confocal imaging system from Nikon (model C2) that allows for the simultaneous detection of up to 8 labeled molecules, and has successfully implemented protocols for several protein markers as well-combined protein and RNA markers (RNAscope multidimensional confocal imaging). The new Nikon A1Si Confocal Microscope System is fully compatible with pre-existed confocal system (C2) and will further expand the imaging capacity (the system is equipped with 8 laser lines allowing for a higher number of labels detected simultaneously). In addition to the extra lasers, the requested system includes 1) a robotic well-plate loader unit that allows for high throughput screening of high number of tissues, and 2) the elements for the TIRF microscopy, fully compatible with the Nikon TIRF system already in lab. Therefore, the lab can interchange parts/units between the two systems. The existing equipment must be compatible and no substitutions allowed. 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, and replacement parts must be compatible with existing equipment. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTATIONS. All responsible sources who can provide the same equipment may submit a response that could be considered by email (subject line to reference NIAID-NOI-17-1829142) to Tonia Alexander at contact@example.gov, by 5:00 pm eastern standard time Monday, January 30, 2017. 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.