NIH-NINDS-21-011230 - Notice of Intent

Submitted by patelsnv on
Post Date/ Solicitation Issue Date
Closing Response Date
Proposed Award Date
Project Title
Revolve R4 Microscope from VWR
Contracting Office
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Contact Points

Primary Contract Specialist

Valerie
Gregorio
valerie.gregorio@nih.gov
NAICS Code Number
423490
Other Professional Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
Small Business Size Standard
150 employees
FPDS Classification Code
N/A
Estimated Period of Performance
N/A
Delivery of Goods
BLDG 35 RM 1B1004
Set-Aside Status
Not Set Aside
Competition Status
Brand Name Only
Vendor Name
VWR Scientific Products
Address
100 Matsonford RD BLDG 1 STE 200
Radnor, Pennsylvania 19087-4569
Single-Sole Source Determination
We require the microscope having below properties: (1) It needs to have brightfield and fluorescence camera. (2) It can be equipped with 4 or more than 4 fluorescence filters. (3) The scope can image under light on the bench top and does not need a dark room to set up. (4) It needs to have a user-friendly computer interface and software to use. (5) It is a plus if the scope can be transformed from upright to inverted. This Revolve R4 microscope provides unique salient characteristics that fit all our purposes. This microscope is available through VWR (Avantor) which has a pre-negotiated pricing with the NIH. Through the manufacturer, the price is $29,9950 while through VWR the price is $24,999. While no other microscope can switch between inverted and upright orientations, we have provided quotes for similar machines with similar interfaces, cameras, and light sources. These are available through GSA Advantage. They are provided to show the reasonableness of the price from VWR.
One comparable microscope is the COMPOUND INVERTED MICROSCOPE from Fisher Scientific, which has a similar light source, 4 channels, and computer interface. Price: $24,027. However, this one does not have the function of transforming to an inverted scope and it requires a separate dark room to set up.
The other comparable microscope is the OLYMPUS IX 73 FLUORESCENCE from Olympus which has comparable cameras, interface, and light source. Price $28,695.12. This scope has a higher price than Revolve R4 and it also needs a separate dark room to set up
Background/Description of Requirement

This microscope is needed for fly line screening and verification studies. This will allow personnel in the lab to screen a large number of candidate lines and be certain of success when performing publication-quality imaging with confocal microscopes. Our research focus on Drosophilar dendrite plasticity. We usually need to prepare hundreds of slides to scan for the genes that give a strong phenotype to follow up the further study.  We are currently using our Zeiss confocal microscopes to their capacity for screening fly brain lines for further investigation. However, confocal microscope is usually fully booked by lab members who need to get publication-quality level of images that need long time imaging. We also have another fluorescent  microscope, which is only for cell culture imaging as cell culture requires very clean envioroment. Thus, it’s essential for our goup to have a small bench top fluorescent microscope for quick slides scanning and imaging. By shifting our screening process to a smaller, faster machine, we free up the larger microscopes for high quality imaging of scientifically valuable brains.

 

Interested parties may identify in writing their interest and capability in response to this requirement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.

All responses must be received by closing date and must reference the announcement. Responses may be submitted electronically to the attention of the contract specialist. Fax responses will not be accepted.

All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.