FEI Glacios cryo-EM microscope and complementary components
INTRODUCTION
THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND- NAME).
The National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Office of Acquisitions (OA) on behalf of the National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes & Kidney Diseases intends to award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to FEI CO for the acquisition of the FEI Glacios cryo-EM microscope and complementary components.
NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 334516 with a Size Standard 1,000.
REGULATORY AUTHORITY
The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-99.
This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000).
STATUTORY AUTHORITY
This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c) under provisions of the statutory authority of FAR Subpart 6.302- FAR 6.302-1-Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1).
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
Within 60 Days of Award
Place of Performance
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes & Kidney Diseases
8 Center Drive
Bethesda MD 20892
DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT
The National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health (NIH), requires a cryo-EM microscope that is 200 kV, contains a Field Emission Gun (FEG), autoloader compatible with the FEI Krios microscope, and phase plate. The purchase must be compatible with the existing Titan Krios in MICEF for efficient use of Cryo specimen.
CryoEM promises high resolution 3D protein structure solution (sub 3 Angstrom) without the need of crystallization. In recent 5-6 years, the field has witnessed a boom with its application to protein structure problems. The existing setup for cryo-EM at NIDDK only allows each user approximately one day per month to collect data. To determine a high-resolution structure thousands of images are required, which takes several days.
The CryoEM core currently possesses one Cryo TEM (Tecnai TF20) for Cryo specimen screening purposes that serves about 45 users from MICEF, a surge from less than 10 users 3-4 years ago. With 1 day of turnover ratio, it takes more than a month for an average user to get his/her turn for screening purposes. This severely hampers the research activities of the NIDDK and associated institutions. It's clear that Cryo-EM core need more microscopes, and better with higher efficiency.
The microscope must be equipped with an autoloader that allows for 12 Cryo specimen grids to be loaded to the microscope at once which is a big boost over TF20 which allows only one specimen loading at a time. This greatly improves the screening efficiency. In addition, instead of refilling liquid nitrogen every 4-8 hours (with Gatan 626 or 698 (ELSA) Cryo holders) with TF20, the microscope must allow for 24/7 continuous unattended data collection with automated liquid nitrogen filling. Further, specimens screened by the microscope must be freely transferrable to Arctica or Krios for higher resolution or energy filtered data collection. Also, the microscope must be equipped with a Constant Power Objective lens that allows for better thermal specimen drift and optical performance. Last but not least, vendor must have a reputation in the marketplace with fast service response times.
FEI has the only factory trained service organization available on the east coast that is capable of servicing the Cryo functions, Compu-Stage and Tomography capabilities on the instrument at NIH. These instruments are very complex and have warranted that Service Engineers are sent to specific training courses in Holland to gain sufficient hardware and software proficiency, enabling them to provide proper service, repair and maintenance on the microscopes. In addition, being the manufacturer of the instrumentation, FEI possesses first access to any upgrades that become available for our instrumentation. Most of these upgrades are included at no charge with the service maintenance agreement.
1
1139918 Glacios
The core instrument (Glacios) includes:
- High-Tension Generator
- X-FEG Electron Source
- Automatic Aperture System
- C-TWIN Lens
- Autoloader
- CompuStage with Glacios Single-Axis Holder
- Flu Camera
- Workstation with 2 x 24'' LCD Monitor
- Network Computer
- 200 kV Alignment
- EPU Software and License
- TEM Scripting
- Low Dose Exposure Technique
- 2x Capsules
- 2x Cassettes
- 1x C-Clip Ring (100x)
- 1x C-Clip (100x)
- 2x C-Clip Insertion Tools
- 1x Loading Station
- 1x AutoGrid Alignment Tool
- 1x AutoGrid Tweezers
- 1x AutoGrid Container (20x)
- 1x Cassette Tweezers
- 1x AutoGrid Assembly Workstation
- 1x Grid Container Tool
2 1115604 TEM Tomography Data Acquisition Software 1
Bottom-Mount Digital Camera
3 1100484 Ceta 16M Camera CMOS 4K X4K 200 kV 1
4 1138122 External Camera Kit 1
Phase Plate and software
5 1064487 Phase Plate Solution 1
6 1156987 Advanced Scripting for TEM (F3EC & VPP) (Waiting for approval) 1
Consultancy & Services
7 1152408 Site Preparation Support - Existing Facility 1
Shipping
8 4022 400 44041 DAP Brno / Named place of destination; receiving dock in North America (T-4) 1
9 1155943 Reduce Talos Ship Height 1
Installation & Warranty
10 1126756 NA Installation Kit with Water-cooled Chiller 1
11 1113994 Mains Matching Transformer for TEM 1
12 9432 909 96281 Compressor 115 V, 50 / 60 Hz 1
13 4022 404 41189 Installation Labor Glacios NA 1
14 4022 404 02189 Installation Material Glacios NA 1
15 4022 404 43189 Warranty Labor Glacios NA 1
16 4022 404 04189 Warranty Material Glacios NA 1
Training
17 9425 060 99100 On-site Applications Training - Americas (1 day) 3
Extended Service Contract
18 4022 404 45189 Year(s) Standard Service Contract (not including external camera customer will supply 1
CLOSING STATEMENT
This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: descriptive literature, delivery timeframe, warranties and/or other information that demonstrates that the offer meets all the foregoing requirements, 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."
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. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.
All responses to this notice shall be submitted electronically by 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time, on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 to the Contract Specialist, Amber Harris, at amber.harris@nih.gov .
Assessment of Capability
Lowest Price Technically Acceptable
Amber Harris, Contract Specialist, Phone 3014028778, Email amber.harris@nih.gov
