Sources Sought Notice for a Cost-Per-Test (CPT) Agreement to include reagents, instrument/equipment, consumables, controls, and any necessary services to conduct Flow Cytometry Testing at BAMC

The Medical Readiness Contracting Office West (MRCO) is issuing this Sources Sought Notice to find potential sources to provide a Cost-Per-Test (CPT) Agreement or Reagent Rental Agreement to include reagents, instrument/equipment, consumables, controls, and any necessary services (e.g., maintenance of furnished equipment) to conduct Flow Cytometry Testing for the Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) Department of Pathology and Area Laboratory Services - Core Laboratory, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  A base period of performance from 01 October 2025 through 30 September 2030 will be required for this action.

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT – This is a Sources Sought Notice and is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ) or a promise to issue an RFQ in the future.  Solicitations are not available at this time and requests for a solicitation will not receive a response.  This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever.  All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States Government. Not responding to this Sources Sought Notice does not preclude participation in any future RFQ, should one be issued.  It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

The Government will use responses to this notice in formulating its acquisition strategy. If the Government does not receive sufficient information in response to this notice to verify the potential for competition exists, it is possible that a sole-source contract, supported by a Justification and Approval document, will be issued to support the Government's requirement. MRCO-W is seeking the following information (please answer paragraph below with your response):

• Company name, Unique Entity ID, CAGE code, and point of contact information (including phone number and email address), and socio-economic category(ies) as related to NAICS 325413 (In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing), such as 8(a), HUBZone, Women-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Small, or Other-than-Small.

• Capability Statement (limited to ten pages), describing how your company meets the below objectives, providing additional proof (such as FDA approval) where appropriate:

Our customer, the Department of Pathology, Core Laboratory at BAMC requires the following instrument/equipment, reagents, supplies, and service:  

Flow Cytometer Instrumentation:

• All instrumentation must be U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved.

• Must have minimum 10-color detection capability.

• Must have sample carousel capable of holding 32 sample tubes or more.

• Must have barcode reader capable of reading Code 39 barcodes.
• Unaffected by ambient room temperature variations.

• Instrument to Instrument variation < 3% CV to ensure comparable results (i.e., same sample run on multiple instruments during the same day will generate the same results).

• Automated cell processing station required for standardized whole blood lysis and washing with a minimum 60 samples/hour processing capability.

• Sample tube mixing on-board prior to sample acquisition – individual tube mixing preferred.

• Minimal start-up and maintenance time – must be able to perform sample runs within 30 minutes of start-up.

• Sample carryover < 0.1%.
• Capable of resolving particles ≤ 1 µm in size from background noise.
• Data acquisition rate ≥ 10,000 events/second.

• Bi-directional interface with MHS Genesis required at start-up or within three months, if not already available.

• Ability to perform leukemia/lymphoma panels on blood, bone marrow, tissue, and body fluids with broad range of surface cytoplasmic B-cell, T-cell, and myeloid antibodies with premixed antibody panels.

• 14) Ability to perform single platform stem cell and CD3 enumeration on peripheral blood
• and apheresis products.

•  15)Ability to perform CDC basic panel (lymphocyte subtyping with CD3/CD4/CD8/CD19/CD56).

• Supply two identical flow cytometers with above characteristics.   

•  Ability to print color scatterplots and store scatterplot data for at least two years.

• Functional for 98% of the time during departmental hours of operation (M-F 0730-1630)

• 19) Contractor provides quality control plan and materials.

 Reagents:

•  All assays, reagents, calibrators, and QC materials must be U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved.

• Monoclonal antibody-fluorochrome combinations preferred. Antibody clones must be available with multiple fluorochromes to increase testing/panel flexibility.

• Lyophilized reagents with standard reconstitution volumes and diluent preferred.

• Provided reagents must be FDA-classified invitro diagnostics (preferred) or analyze specific reagents (ASR) – no RUO reagents can be used to meet testing requirements.

• Capability of vendor to provide defined premixed panels.

• Must be able to sequester lots of assays, reagents, calibrators, and QC materials for a period of 12 months.

The response due date for this Sources Sought Notice is 4:00 PM CST, October 30, 2024.  All questions and comments regarding this announcement shall be submitted via e-mail to the below POCs: