National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div.,100 Bureau Drive Stop 3572, Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3572

66 -- VP-ISOTHERMAL TITRATION CALORIMETER (ITC) SOL 53SBNB967021 DUE 011399 POC Brenda K. Lee (301) 975-6394 WEB: NIST Contracts Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contracts Office, Contract@nist.gov. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation 53SBNB967021 is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ) using simplified acquisition procedures. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-06. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code is 3821. This is a small business size set-aside and the related small business size standard is 500 employees. This is a brand name or equal RFQ. The Contract Line Item Number (CLIN), quantities, and unit issues are as follows: CLIN 0001, VP-ITC MicroCalorimeter, 1 each shall include: Ultrasensitive VP-ITC MicroCalorimeter including 300 MHZ Pentium Computer System with 64MB RAM; 4.0 GB hard drive; 3.5 inch floppy drive; CD-ROM drive; Keyboard and mouse; ORIGIN VPViewer, Microsoft Windows 95, DOS, Microsoft Office Professional Software; 17 inch color monitor; Hewlett Packard LaserJet 6L printer; Degassing station, filling/cleaning assemblies, three injections syringes. CLIN 0002 Start up accessories, l lot; CLIN 0003 Operating and Maintenance Manuals, 1 set; CLIN 0004 On-site installation and training, 1 job. CLIN 0005 warranty, 1 year. The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) intends to obtain a VP-Isothermal Titration Calorimeter that shall have the following specifications a) Power-feedback circuitry for cell-cell compensation to provide a direct measure of heat. b) Origin TM and VPViewer software for simple review, evaluation and analysis of calorimeter data in a Window environment, and in a manner that is compatible with our existing 10 year database of calorimetry data on protein- ligand interaction energies. c) Software-driven temperature control for user-programmable temperature equilibration between sample runs for measurement of heat capacity changes. d) Non-removable, 1.3 ml capacity twin sample cells for high sensitivity and minimization of user wear and tear, especially in a multi-user instrument. e) User-programmable response times to permit evaluation of fast and slow reactions in the same instrument. This attribute also allows an unprecedented range of heats to be measured in a single instrument without the addition of expensive and complicated electronics. The sensitivity of the instrument shall be capable of discriminating heat pluses on the order of 0.5 microcalories in a rapid and routine manner. This is important because some of the experimental systems that will be under study require the capability of high-sensitivity heat exchange measurements, necessitating the use of response times of 15 seconds to accurately measure heat exchange without using a mathematical deconvolution routine. f) The nature of the protein interactions under study requires an extremely high tolerance of baseline noise. The average, short term RMS noise level shall be less than or equal to 1 nanocalorie per second when instrument is fully operational (when mixer is stirring at a nominal speed of about 400 rpm). There are several key components that are essential in a multi-user isothermal titration calorimeter in order to meet the demands of the Structural Biology group at Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB). These components and features include the design and flexibility of the calorimeter and the control unit, as well as state-of-art electronics for rapid and precise acquisition of small level of heat exchanged in reactions of biological macromolecules and their ligands. The Government requires that the instrument include an integrated workstation that can accommodate the diverse needs of several users for experiment control and data acquisition and analysis. The Government requires a unit that is a high performance calorimeter with comprehensive capabilities for isothermally measuring the energetics of protein-ligand interactions from 5-80 degrees Celsius using an internal Peltier device, eliminating the need for an expensive, external temperature control bath. The Government requires a biocompatible microvolume sample chamber of approximately 1.3 milliliters afford the high sensitivity need to facilitate the board array of projects for which the CARB investigators will use the instrument. The Government requires the calorimeter to be equipped with comprehensive data acquisition, and analysis software, and a 3000 MHZ-Pentium processor workstation, monitor and printer. The Government requires on-site installation, and training, twelve month warranty and one set of operation and maintenance manuals. The contractor shall provide on-site installation and training of the instrument within 30 days after delivery. The Government shall test and accept the instrument within 20 days after installation. Required delivery within 16 weeks after contract award. FAR 52.247-34 FOB Destination, Delivery location is Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB), 9600 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. The provision at FAR 52-212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items is applicable to this acquisition. The provision at 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The Government will make award to one offeror. The proposal selected for contract award will be made to the offeror whose proposal offers the best value to the Government, technical, price, and other factors considered. The Government will evaluate information based on the following criteria listed in descending order of importance with the TECHNICAL FACTORS being significantly more important than price. 1) Technical capability to meet the agency need; and 2) Past Performance. (Offerors must provide a list of at least five (5) references confirming the installation and use of these instruments). The technical factor is worth slightly less than three-fourths of the total point score. Past Performance factor is worth slightly more than one-fourth of the technical points. Technical and Past Performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price. Offerors shall comply with the provision at FAR 52.212-1(b) and submit 1) Three (3) copies of quotation which addresses CLIN's 0001-0005; 2) three (3) copies of technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in this solicitation; 3) Two (2) copies of the most recent published price list(s); And 4) Two (2) copies of a list of references. The list of references shall include a minimum: The name of the reference contact person and the company or organization name; The telephone number of the reference contact person; The contract or grant number; The amount of the contract or address, and the telephone number of the Contracting Officer if applicable; And the date of services were completed. Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items which may be downloaded from http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/repcert.htm. The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, and the clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition, including subparagraphs (5) 52.219-14 (6) 52.222-26, (7) 52.222-35, (8) 52.222-36, (9) 52.222-37, (10) 52.225-3, (15) 52.225-21(I); Department of Commerce Agency Level Protest Procedures Level above the Contracting Officer, which can be downloaded from the NIST external web page, the Internet address is http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/protest.htm. Submission shall be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition and Assistance Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Stop 3572, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-3572, ATTN: Brenda K. Lee, Solicitation Number 53SBNB967021. Submission must be received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 13, 1999. Faxed offers will not be accepted. Requests for a copy of a solicitation package will be disregarded. No solicitation package will be issued. If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact Brenda K. Lee at the telephone number identified above. See Numbered Note 1 Posted 12/24/98 (W-SN283412). (0358)

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