Acquisition of Bruker timsMetabo and associated components

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is seeking to procure a Bruker timsMetabo liquid chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC-IMS-MS) system for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). This specialized analytical instrument will support critical research in metabolomics, lipidomics, and exposomics by providing high sensitivity, high-resolution, and high-duty cycle mass spectrometry capabilities for molecular analysis of biological samples. The procurement is being conducted as a sole source acquisition specifically targeting Bruker Scientific LLC in Billerica, Massachusetts, under NAICS code 334516 for analytical laboratory instrument manufacturing. Interested parties must submit comprehensive responses by September 20, 2025, at 9:00 AM Eastern time, including technical proposals, cost-price proposals, period of performance details, Unique Entity ID, Taxpayer Identification Number, and business size certification. All submissions must be made electronically to Contracting Officer Michael Falzone, and offerors are required to maintain active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). The government will evaluate received information to determine whether to proceed non-competitively or conduct a competitive procurement process.

This procurement does not utilize any set-aside designations and is open under standard acquisition procedures. Bruker Scientific LLC appears to be the incumbent or preferred contractor given the sole source nature of the solicitation and the specific targeting of their timsMetabo system technology. The contract value is expected to remain below the simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000, with the procurement being conducted using Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The solicitation falls under PSC category 6515 for medical and surgical instruments, equipment, and supplies, reflecting the specialized nature of the analytical instrumentation being acquired. The NAICS size standard for this procurement is set at 1,000 employees, indicating the government's recognition that this type of sophisticated scientific equipment manufacturing typically requires larger organizational capabilities. The timeline allows interested parties ten days from the posting date to prepare and submit their comprehensive response packages to the contracting office.