Preventative Maintenance Services for Four (4) epMotion Liquid Handler Robots

PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE **NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

NOI-NIAID-25-2256911

NAICS – 811210

This is a Notice of Intent, not a request for proposal.  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Eppendorf North America to procure preventative maintenance services for four (4) epMotion liquid handler robots located on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Microbiome Program is a collaborative effort to explore the metaorganism—the combination of the cells of a host and the host’s microbiota. The program has developed a microbiome sequencing facility with bioinformatics support, a gnotobiotic mouse facility, and a microbiology core that are all tasked with studying the metaorganism. The program has already supported research of over 35 groups across the National Institutes of Health, who study the metaorganism in the context of health, cancer, parasite infection, and many other disease states. To conduct these studies on human and mouse samples, the lab uses the Eppendorf epMotion platform for next generation sequencing, C57BL/6 germ free mice and other in our own facility, and various microbiological techniques. The DNA extraction of stool samples and library preparation for 16S and metagenomic sequencing is of paramount importance for this work. This requirement is for the procurement of preventative maintenance services for each of four (4) epMotion machines, specifically two each of models EpMotion 5073 and EpMotion 5075, for the period March 15, 2025 – March 14, 2026. This specific service allows for Eppendorf-trained technicians to work on our machines, using only Eppendorf parts to ensure the machines function optimally. It is imperative for the program to have an active annual service agreement for the timely maintenance and calibration of the instruments and calibration of the pipetting tools for optimal performance especially as microbiome research uses micro volumes of samples and reagents. The annual service agreement will enable a continuous generation of DNA extractions, libraries for microbiome sequencing, and ensure consistent and repeatable sequencing datasets. As the machine pipettes at volumes reaching one microliter small changes in pipetting volume could lead to loss of data integrity and difficulty in comparing sample data across sequencing experiments/runs. Additionally, without proper maintenance, there is the possibility of catastrophic mechanical failure of the liquid handlers whereby potentially causing damage to the point there would be no salvaging of the human samples currently being processed at that time. The present maintenance period has been lapsed since February 21, 2025, and to avoid having the warranty on the instrument invalidated, a new FY25 agreement should be procured directly with the manufacturer.

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 1901 (a) (1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1 only one responsible source and no other supply of service will satisfy agency requirements. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. All responsible sources that could provide comparable services may submit a capability statement. All required documents must be submitted via the NIAID electronic Simplified Acquisition Submission System (eSASS) website at https://esass.nih.gov by March 9, 2025 at 5:00 pm ET. All vendors must register in the eSASS system to submit their documentation. Instructions on how to register /submit documents are included on the website. All responses received by the closing date of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.