Small_Business_Sources_Sought.pdf

Document Type: Small Business Sources Source Sought Notice

Solicitation No.: 75N95019Q00119

Project Title: On-chip Sort microfluidic cell sorter and accessories, brand name or equal

Classification Code: 66 – Instruments and Laboratory Equipment

NAICS Code: 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing

Description

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain 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 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.

Please note that to qualify as an eligible small business for purposes of a small business set-aside, at least 50% of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel must be expended for employees of the small business awardee (see FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting).

Purpose and Objectives

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 Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is a translational science center that prides itself on its tremendously productive pipeline and is innovative in several ways. NCATS brings together a diverse range of scientists, including medicinal chemists, biologists, toxicologists, and engineers, in to ultimately translate basic science into real products and services that help improve people’s lives.

Project Requirements

NCATS seeks to purchase one (1) On-chip Sort microfluidic cell sorter and accessories, or brand-name equal, for scientists to perform damage-free sorting of sensitive pluripotent stem cells for a range of end-point assays that require the highest possible level of viability preservation, especially single-cell genomic analyses like RNA sequencing and DNA copy number variant analysis.

This cell sorter leverages microfluidics to achieve low shear forces applied to cells. Unlike traditional cell sorters that put the sorted cells under a significant amount of stress (from high-pressure fluidics, application of a static charge to droplets encapsulating the cells, and the impact from a high travel speed from the nozzle to the target vessel into which the cells are being sorted), this sorter provides damage-free sorting that enables obtaining single-cell suspension with the highest level of viability preservation. This sorter achieves this at a fraction of the time that is normally needed for repeated manual washes of the suspension which compromises viability, genomic integrity and introduces drastic changes to the expression profiles. Three detection lasers allow for simultaneous sorting based on fluorescently labeled antibodies to obtain pure populations of interest. The resulting single-cell suspension will consequently have the highest possible quality and will enable accurate measurements reflecting the true biological mechanisms while leveraging the full potential of the existing single-cell analysis equipment.

The brand name items and accessories (On-chip Biotechnologies Co., Ltd) include:

Brand Name item Description Catalog No. Qty

On-chip Sort HSG Microfluidic cell sorter

362S3001G

2D Chip-Z1001 80μm-wide Sorting chip

1002004 15

2D Chip-Z1000-w150 150μm-wide Sorting chip

1002005 1

On-chip Sheath

(HEPES)

Sheath 2001012

On-chip Sample buffer

(HEPES)

Buffer (HEPES) 2001013 3

Sample Buffer 2x (PBS base) Buffer 2x (PBS base) 2001015

Installation and Training

On-site installation within 12-16 weeks after receipt of order. One-day training for four (4) participants that includes hands-on experience and mastery of the instrument operation and maintenance, and experimental design and data analysis.

N/A

Service contract

One-year service contract with purchase, and two option periods. Service contract includes annual inspection, part replacement as needed, application of oil and cleaning of parts, inspection and adjustment of optical parts, overall operational inspection, software updates installation, and cleaning of chip holder.

N/A 1

Brand name or equal liquid handling systems and accessories must have the following salient characteristics:

The On-chip Sort system must be capable of sorting large structures like pluripotent stem cell-derived spheroids, neuroshperes, embryoid bodies, and organoids. It is critical that all fluids be handled on a sterile and disposable microfluidic chip, to allow for damage-free, contamination-free, and maintenance-free sorting of sensitive cells like pluripotent stem cells or neurons.

Microfluidic chips for sorting must be the following sizes: 80μm × 80μm size channel chip for cells up to 60μm; and 150μm × 150μm size channel chip for large particles up to 130μm. The sorting method must involve gentle but rapid generation of liquid pulses at the sorting junction that pushes only the target cells into the collection chamber. The sorting chips must be sterile, disposable and have no limitations in buffer or media selection (including oil). The unsorted cells must be able to be recovered from the waste slot and re-sorted if necessary.

It is imperative that the microfluidic cell sorter be capable of containing microfluidics on the disposable chip. The fluidics in the chip must be operated by applying air pressure so that the sheath fluid in the chip does not come into contact with the instrument. This allows fast turnaround of samples with no cleaning or maintenance in between and eliminates cross-contamination. Simply having a microfluidic component in the fluidics path will not suffice since such a system still suffers from the drawbacks of traditional cell sorting – shear forces resulting from high-pressure suspension flow, application of electrical charge and high-voltage deflection, impact forces in the collection vessels. The sorting mechanism must be based on liquid pulsing instead of application of charge and deflection. This allows for a wider selection of buffers, including viscous ones used in single-cell genomic analyses. The sorter must feature at least 3 lasers, at least 6 fluorescent colors detectable and forward/side-scatter detectors to interrogate cells and make sort decisions.

Anticipated Period of Performance

Delivery and installation are to occur within 12-16 weeks after receipt of order. The exact date and time of installation shall be coordinated with the NCATS Point of Contact listed on the purchase order.

Required Information

All capability statements must provide the following: (1) DUNS number; (2) organization name;

(3) organization address; (4) point of contact; (5) point of contact title, address, telephone, and email address; and (6) size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc.) pursuant the applicable NAICS code.

Submission Instructions and Due Date

Written capability statements must be SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN 8:00AM EDT on TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019 to the below Contracting Office Address, Attn: Kimberly Espinosa.

Electronic capability statements will be accepted by the primary point of contact listed below.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

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, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

Contracting Office Address

NCATS Section NIDA Office of Acquisition 6001 Executive Boulevard Suite 3151, MSC 9531 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9531*

*Use Rockville, MD 20852 for Fed-Ex/USPS/Courier/Hand-Delivery

Points of Contact

Primary Point of Contact:

Kimberly Espinosa Contract Specialist Kimberly.espinosa@nih.gov Phone: (301) 827-3546