Biomerieux Spectrometer Supplies

This notice announces the intent by the U.S. Army Medical Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA), Fort Detrick, Maryland, 21702, to award a sole source Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Contract to Biomerieux, Inc., under the statutory authority 13.501(a). The contract is for the purchase of supplies and consumables, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) cards for the government owned Biomerieux, Inc. Vitek 2XL Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometer at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD).

The NMCSD has a requirement for supplies and consumables, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) cards for the government owned Biomerieux, Inc. Vitek 2XL Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometer. The Biomerieux, Inc. Vitek 2 supplies and antimicrobial susceptibility cards are the only brand capable of running on the Vitek 2XL MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometer. The Vitek 2XL is the only MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer on the market with approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for rapid (same-day) identification of molds and mycobacteria.

The NMCSD microbiology laboratory currently uses the Biomerieux, Inc. Vitek 2XL, manufactured by Biomerieux, Inc., Inc. No other vendor’s antimicrobial susceptibility testing panels will run on this microbiology analyzer. Therefore Biomerieux, Inc., is the only vendor who can satisfy this part of the requirement. Bruker and Biomerieux, Inc., are the only manufacturer of the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers that have U.S. FDA approval for rapid organism identification. However, only the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer from Biomerieux, Inc., Inc has FDA approval for molds and mycobacteria. The Bruker model does not satisfy this part of the requirement. Lastly, Biomerieux, Inc., is the sole distributer of their own supplies; they do not allow third party wholesalers or distributors and continuing to use the existing government-owned analyzer is the most cost-effective solution.

Period of Performance: 01 October 2025 - 31 March 2030 (Base Year plus 4 Option Years)

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 334516 and the size standard is 1,000. 

This announcement fulfills the synopsis requirements under FAR 5.102(a)(6) and 5.203(a). USAMRAA intends to award a contract no sooner than 15 days after publishing this synopsis. This Special Request for Information is not a request for competitive quotes. Information received in response to this notice will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a competitive procurement is in the best interest of the Government. If no written responses are received by the expiration date listed in this notice, which reflects at least fifteen (15) days after the publication of this notice, the award will be issued as sole source. All questions and responses concerning this notice shall be emailed to Mr. Christopher L. Cook at christopher.l.cook68.civ@health.mil.