Sources Sought: Purchase of Waters ACQUITY UPLC I-Class PLUS Triple with QDa system (Brand-name or equal)

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition; and (4) availability of domestic sources manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and of a satisfactory quality. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not

considered a small business under the applicable NAICS may submitted a response to this notice.This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition.  It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes.  No award will be made as a result of this notice.  The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.  This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.Background: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation’s leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability, conducting, supporting and making medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives.NCATS is one of 27 Institutes and Centers at the NIH and its mission is to catalyze the generation of innovative methods and technologies that will enhance the development, testing and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics across a wide range of human diseases and conditions. The NCATS DPI plans, conducts and uses both internal and contract resources to advance collaborative research projects across the preclinical phases of the translational science spectrum.The NCATS DPI Analytical Chemistry Core (ACC) maintains a state-of-the-art laboratory whose mission is to support translational research throughout NCATS by providing analytical chemistry services involving the isolation, purification, identification and analysis of various therapeutic modalities for targeted disease states.NCATS has become a key partner in the Antiviral Program for Pandemics (APP), a multi-agency initiative that includes National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), to accelerate antiviral development through early discovery and preclinical development of safe and effective oral antivirals. The initial priority for the APP is to develop treatments for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, with the program expanding to address other virus families with pandemic potential. NCATS will apply its proficiency in drug discovery and development and its cutting-edge technologies to fill critical needs of the APP, such as (i) target validation, (ii) high-throughput screening (HTS) for drug starting points, (iii) medicinal chemistry for lead optimization, and (iv) preclinical, investigational new drug (IND)-enabling development.APP chemists within DPI are tasked with the discovery and development potential small molecule antiviral treatments for a range of viruses that have pandemic potential. In order to meet the increased demand for sample purification and analysis, the ACC needs to improve throughput and expand capabilities through procurement of additional instrumentation and equipment, as well as the application of new technologies.As part of this initiative, the ACC is working on the development of an automated purification platform that would operate as a stand-alone system or an integrated module within the automated synthetic laboratory. This automated purification system named FluidCore is a dual arm fraction collection bed that incorporates analytical and purification liquid chromatography (LC) systems into a single automated platform. The custom system will be integrated into the SMART centralized sample purification and processing platform as an upgrade to the current workflow. The ACC is currently working on the design and development of this innovative and custom purification system by retrofitting NCATS current auto purification semi-preparative purification instrument. Thus, ACC needs an Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system coupled with a Mass Spectrometry (MS) detector to be the analytical LC system for FluidCore, which is required to be readily integrated with the existing NCATS purification system. Additionally, the Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system coupled with a Mass Spectrometry (MS) detector has to be compatible with Waters Automation Portal as a means of transferring analytical samples from the fraction collection bed to the analytical Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system for analysis.Thus, without acquisition of the Waters ACQUITY UPLC I-Class PLUS Triple with QDa system (Brand-name or equal), the ACC will be unable to advance NCATS purification capabilities aimed at meeting the support and resource needs of the APP and DPI Chemistry.      Purpose and Objectives: The Analytical Chemistry Core (ACC), within the Division of Preclinical Innovation (DPI) at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) seeks to purchase a Waters ACQUITY UPLC I-Class PLUS Triple with QDa system (Brand-name or equal) in order to advance NCATS purification capabilities aimed at meeting the support and resource needs of the APP and DPI Chemistry.Project Requirements: For reference purposes, the Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system coupled with a Mass Spectrometry (MS) detector that meet the need of this requirement is the Waters ACQUITY UPLC I-Class PLUS Triple with QDa system.See the attached Purchase Description for the complete list of brand-name items, descriptions, and salient characteristics.Contract Type and Anticipated Period of Performance / Delivery Date: The Government anticipates awarding a firm fixed-price purchase order under a future solicitation. The anticipated delivery date is within thirty (30) days after receipt of order (ARO).Delivery shall be made to the below address with FOB Destination. Shipping and handling shall be included in the quote.National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850The installation and equipment familiarization shall be conducted on dates and times agreed upon by the vendor and the NCATS point of contact designated on the award.In case domestic sources are available and capable of fulfilling the Government’s need, and a future solicitation is published, the Government will use evaluation preferences in accordance with FAR 25.Capability statement /information sought. Respondents must provide clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing the products specified in this sources sought notice.Moreover, interested vendors must provide a capability statement for:the difficulty and/or feasibility of the potential requirement or proposed acquisition, possible solutions and approaches that may currently exist in the marketplace, and information regarding innovative ideas or concepts; andinformation regarding respondents’: (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information.written capability statements should demonstrate organization’s capability to provide the brand-name or equal items listed in the Project Requirements section above. If the entity believes to be an authorized resellers of the brand-name product specified in this announcement or it desires to offer an equal product, the entity’s capability statement must include: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in the Project Requirements section above; and country of manufacture of the product.The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, GSA Schedule (if any), and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.Submission Instructions:  One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein.  A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.The response is limited to ten (10) pages.  The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist.  Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.Responses must be received by 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on March 28, 2022, and reference Sources Sought Number 75N95022Q00149. Responses must be submitted by email to Renato Gomes, Contract Specialist, renato.gomes@nih.gov.“Disclaimer and Important Notes:  This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).”