Sources Sought Notice - Electrophoresis Testing Platform & Reagents

The Medical Regional Contracting Office, West (MRCO-W) is issuing this Sources Sought Notice to find potential sources to provide automated analyzers intended for serum protein electrophoresis, urine protein electrophoresis, hemoglobin electrophoresis, serum immunofixation, urine immunofixation, alkaline gel electrophoresis, and acid gel electrophoresis for the Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) Department of Pathology and Area Laboratory Services Microbiology Laboratory, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  A base period of performance of twelve (12) months plus four (4) twelve (12) month option periods are contemplated.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, DUNS number, 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, Electrophoresis Operations Section, Reference Chemistry Laboratory at the main hospital located at BAMC and surrounding area clinics require the following instrumentation, reagents, supplies and services:The analyzer should:Instrumentation shall be FDA-approved.An expeditious start-up time before each run (no longer than 30 min) with minimal tech time allocated to instrument maintenance, quality control, and specimen processing.A minimal amount of overall tech time allocated to daily (two (2) hours), weekly (no more than one (1) hour, and monthly maintenance (no more than thirty (30) minutes) and reagent readiness.).Provide one platform for Hemoglobin electrophoresis (HBE), serum electrophoresis (SPE), immunofixation (IFE), urine electrophoresis (UPE), and immunotyping (IT).System must be capable of analyzing neat urine specimens.System must be capable of using small sample volumes (5 mL) for Urine electrophoresis testing.System must be fully automated with minimal technician time required for manual manipulation of specimens/test supplies or reagents. Technician should be able to load specimen onto instrument and walk away.System must be compatible with DoD Laboratory Information Management system.Instrument throughput must be at minimum of 10 IFEs/hr., 75 SPEs/hr., 20 HBE/hr., and 10 UPEs/hr. to accommodate high batch volumes.System must be capable of performing total protein analysis of serum and urine specimens.Must provide software to view results in the department and also remotely via Local Area Network.The reagents should:The reagents shall be FDA-approved.Reagents/consumables must meet the requirements of the Reference laboratory mission, workload, and test menu.The Contractor must provide quality control materials acceptable to the section Medical Director. This includes third-party controls when requested/required by the laboratory.  In addition, this requirement must include access to peer-group quality control programs at no additional cost.In determining reagent requirements, the Contractor must consider requirements for routine quality control runs (as defined by the Laboratory Director), routine calibration, periodic calibration/calibration verification in accordance with departmental policy and troubleshooting of out-of-control assays when calculating the yearly requirements.Reagents used for troubleshooting analytical systems must be reimbursed (or replaced) by the Contractor at no additional cost.The response due date for this Sources Sought Notice is 4:00 PM CST, November 30, 2022.  All questions and comments regarding this announcement shall be submitted via e-mail to the below POCs: