SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- FACS ARIA Special Order Research Project Sorter
- Notice Date
- 7/27/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 6120 Executive Blvd. EPS Suite 600, Rockville, MD, 20852, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-NCI-70099-NV
- Response Due
- 8/6/2007
- Archive Date
- 8/21/2007
- Description
- The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics (LCBG), FACS Core Facility plans to enter into a sole source procurement for special order FACS ARIA cell sorter from BD Biosciences, 2350 Qume Drive, San Jose, CA 95131. The North American Industry Classification System Code is 334516 and the business size standard is 500 employees. This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 ? Acquisition for Commercial Items. BD Biosciences is the only source known to the NCI researcher that has the equipment required for their research and detailed below in their JOFOC. However, if any interested party believes it can perform requirement as detailed in the JOFOC they may submit a statement of capabilities. The statement of capabilities and any other furnished information must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the NCI researcher to determine if the party can perform this requirement. An original and one copy of the capability statement must be received in the contracting office by 1:00 pm EDT, on August 6, 2007. Faxed and emailed capability statements are NOT authorized. All questions must be in writing and shall be emailed to Debbie Moore at dm170b@nih.gov or faxed 301-402-4513. It is the vendor?s responsibility to call (301) 402-4509 and verify that questions were received. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. In order to receive an award from the NCI contractors must be registered in the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA). Please refer to http://orca.bpn.gov in order to register. In addition, contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) www.ccr.gov. No collect calls will be accepted. JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION Part I: Background information and Description of Acquisition Title: FACS ARIA cell sorter (special order research project) Purpose/Brief History: The FACS Core Facility provides flow cytometry and cell sorting support for the laboratories in the NCI Center for Cancer Research. The FACS Core has one FACS Vantage sorter (BD Biosciences, installed 2001) and one FACS Aria sorter (BD, installed 2004). In this time, both have provided reliable and consistent service to investigators in over 30 NCI labs and branches. Some of the applications routinely used on the two instruments are sorting murine immune cells, hematopoietic stem cells, keratinocytes, melanocytes, thyroid, mammary, liver, and epithelial cells into subsets based on antigen expression; sorting cell lines expressing fluorescent proteins after transfection; sorting cell lines in specific phases of the cell cycle compartment; sorting yeast and mammalian antibody-expressing cells for antibody libraries; and sorting individual cells for single cell PCR. Sorted cells are used for in vitro biochemical or functional assays and for in vivo assays following injection into mice or zebrafish. A number of CCR laboratories have begun looking at cancer stem cells in a variety of tissue types and cell lines, both murine and human. Cancer stem cells were first identified in leukemia in 1994. Since then, investigators have been attempting to identify cancer stem cells in solid tumors. Many tumors express surface proteins, identifiable on a cell sorter like the FACS Aria using well-characterized monoclonal antibodies, which are also expressed on normal cells. It may be the expression patterns of combinations of these proteins that mark them as the undifferentiated cancer stem cell. Identification of and separation of these putative cancer stem cells in numbers needed for further characterization is possible only with the flow cytometer/cell sorter. However, because most solid tumors do not yet have well-defined surface markers specific to malignant cells, one popular method of sorting potential cancer stem cells is by their SP (side population) phenotype which is detected by using the UV-excitable Hoechst dye. These SP cells, as well as the non-SP cells, can be sorted and used for clonogenic assays in in-vitro culture systems or can be injected into mice to test their ability to form new tumors. Sorted purified cells can also be used to determine their constitutive membrane and signaling proteins. Presently, the FACS Vantage is the only sorter in the FACS Core that is equipped with a UV laser. SP cells are present in very low frequencies (less than 1%) in most cell populations so sorting these cells to obtain sufficient numbers requires many hours. The FACS Aria is a compact benchtop cell sorter equipped with small air-cooled lasers that do not require water lines or 220v electric lines. The FACS Aria special order research project model has a 355 nm UV laser, a 488 nm laser and a 638 nm laser allowing multi-parameter measurements of cell surface expressed proteins in conjunction with the SP phenotype. The FACS ARIA special order research project sorter uses the same software and reagents for operation and quality control as the existing instruments in the FACS Core Lab. The ARIA will be equipped with an aerosol management system for operator safety. PART II: Facts and reasons to Justify Other than Full and Open Competition Statutory authority FAR 13.106(b)(1) b) Soliciting from a single source. (1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, or industrial mobilization). (2) For sole source acquisitions of commercial items in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold conducted pursuant to subpart 13.5, the requirements at 13.501(a) apply. Justification: The BD Biosciences FACS Aria cell sorter is the only fixed alignment cell sorter with air-cooled lasers and a UV option that will allow the CCR to expand their capabilities for sorting and multi-parameter analysis. This FACS Aria is compatible with the FACS Core Facilities existing BD Bioscience equipment and will permit the use of its existing methodologies, and software programs.
- Record
- SN01354455-W 20070729/070727220612 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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