Sources Sought.docx

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE # 75N95022Q00233

Title: Fourier Transform Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (FT NMR) spectrometer system.

NAICS Code: 334516 - Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing

Introduction: This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement.

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.

Background: The Medicinal Chemistry Section’s (MCS) current NMR instrument is more than 20 years old. This is beyond a normal “life” for a high-magnetic field instrument. In the past year MCS have had to arrange frequent service to our NMR as it has not been running properly and required a professional engineer to fix it. This has caused significant down time for the lab for which the NMR is used every day by all of the chemists. In December 2021, our magnet underwent what is commonly called a “quench”, meaning that our instrument lost the ability to create the magnetic fields required for chemical strucutral anlysis. This is a very serious and can be dangerous event, but also a common problem with older super-conducting magnets. We, despite having a maintenance agreement, couldn’t get engineers in to recharge the magnet until mid-February, which was a serious problem for the lab. Our current NMR was made by Varian, a company that was later taken over by Agilent. Although Agilent continues to hold the maintenance agreement, they have limited engineers, which causes us to have to wait for days, weeks or even months for a repair. In addition Agilent no longer sells NMRs. So, although they have been able to temporarily restore the instrument functionality, there is no guarantee that another quench won’t happen in a short time. Hence for our continuing daily research reqirements we need to replace it with a new 400 MHz NMR.

Purpose and Objectives: Purchase of a Fourier Transform Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (FT NMR) spectrometer system in the following quantities:

Delivery Date: Within 7 months of purchase to Baltimore, MD. On-site training must take place at the customer site within two (2) weeks of equipment installation. The delivery and installation should be included.

Capability statement /information sought: Contractors that believe that they possess the ability to provide the required services, should submit documentation on their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contract Specialist.

The Contractor should directly and specifically state in the, capabilities statement, which project requirements can be meet and/or supplied. The Contractor must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.

The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.

The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone number, and e-mail addresses.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist at polina.klimenkova@nih.gov.

The response must be received on or before May 16, 2022 at 11 am, Eastern Time.

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 presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published on sam.gov. 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).