Four Wavelength Laser System for Fiber Photometry

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health, intends to procure a Four Wavelength Laser System for Fiber Photometry through a sole source acquisition. The government plans to award this non-competitive contract exclusively to Coherent NA, Inc., as they are identified as the only vendor capable of meeting the specific technical specifications required for a custom in vivo imaging system. The procurement falls under NAICS code 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing) and PSC code 6515 (Medical and Surgical Instruments, Equipment, and Supplies). Offerors must submit comprehensive responses including technical proposals, cost-price proposals, period of performance, Unique Entity ID, Taxpayer Identification Number, and business size certification. The solicitation requires all interested parties to have active System for Award Management (SAM) registration and submit their responses by September 4, 2025, at 9:00 AM Eastern time, referencing solicitation number 75N94025Q00209.

This procurement does not utilize any set-aside designations and is structured as an open competition despite the intended sole source award to Coherent NA, Inc. The contract value is expected to remain below the simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000, with the NAICS size standard set at 1,000 employees. The government emphasizes that utilizing laser components from vendors other than Coherent would result in hardware and software incompatibility issues, requiring system modifications that could cause potential downtime and disruption to ongoing experimental workflows. The sole source justification centers on the critical nature of in vivo imaging studies that would be negatively impacted by any interruption or modification to the existing laser system infrastructure. The procurement timeline requires responses within approximately ten days of the posting date, indicating an expedited acquisition schedule.