This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal of abstracts or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified business sources; (2) determine whether they are small businesses (e.g., 8(a), Veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, and women-owned small businesses); and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your response 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 considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should indicate its small business status in its response.

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 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 mission of the Intramural Research Program (IRP) of the National Institute on Drug Abuse is to conduct state-of-the-art research on basic mechanisms that underlie drug abuse and addiction, and to develop new methods for the treatment of drug abuse and addiction. The newly established Translational Analytical Core at NIDA-IRP will provide both preclinical and clinical PIs at NIDA-IRP access to shared instrumental resources to accomplish this goal. The addition of a liquid chromatograph-high resolution mass spectrometer (LC-HRMS) will enable researchers at NIDA-IRP to analyze and measure the metabolome and lipidome for their samples. This information will permit clinical PIs to provide better therapy for patients and will enable preclinical PIs to understand the underlying biochemistry mechanism for drug abuse and other disease models which will lead to better medical treatment.

The Translational Analytical Core (TAC) at NIDA-IRP has a need to perform exact mass measurements and structural characterization of small molecules and to measure metabolomic and lipidomic profiles in samples from addiction studies and disease models. The requested liquid chromatograph-high resolution mass spectrometer (LC-HRMS) needs to be a benchtop system and will be used for structural identification of synthetic molecules by exact mass and MS/MS studies. It will also be used to perform metabolomic and lipidomic analysis in biological matrices in both human and animal studies.

Requirement:

NIDA IRP requires a liquid chromatograph-high resolution mass spectrometer (LC-HRMS) with a quadrupole Orbitrap mass analyzer with a HESI ion source. NIDA IRP requires the following Brand name or Equal Items (Line - Part Identifier; Description:  Brand Name or Equal; Qty:):

Line 1.1 - Part: BRE725531; Description: Orbitrap Exploris 120 Basic System w/ IC; Qty: 1

Line 1.2 - Part: BRE0017135; Description: Merkur CountKit NA_Type K; Qty: 1

Line 1.3 - Part: 00109-99-00046; Description: VALVE,2 POS,6PRT,RHEODYN MXT715-004,RoHS; Qty: 1

Line 1.4 - Part: BRE0021870; Description: Cal Solution, Flexmix, 2x10mL; Qty: 1

Line 1.5 - Part: OPTON-30960; Description: GEN N2, SOLARIS XE,110/230V,35L MIN,ROHS      ; Qty: 1

Line 1.6 - Part: C0012-01-00077; Description: Powervar UPS SPII 6.0kVA, RoHS; Qty: 1

Line 1.7 - Part: C0202-99-00182; Description: PV PDU 2xL6-20R,2x6-20R,4x5-15R, NOT EU; Qty: 1

Line 1.8 - Part: OPTON-30879; Description: SW, LIPIDSEARCH 4.2 HRAM SINGLE-USER; Qty: 1

Line 1.9 - Part: OPTON-31055; Description: SW, COMPOUND DISCOVERER 3.2; Qty: 1

Line 1.10 - Part: 702-022409; Description: 3 DAYS LSMS ONSITE SPPRT; Qty: 2

Line 2.1 - Part: VF-S01-A-02; Description: SYSTEM BASE VANQUISH HORIZON / FLEX; Qty: 1

Line 2.2 - Part: VF-P10-A-01; Description: Binary Pump F; Qty: 1

Line 2.3 - Part: VF-A10-A-02; Description: Split Sampler FT; Qty: 1

Line 2.4 - Part: VH-C10-A-03; Description: Column Compartment H; Qty: 1

Line 2.5 - Part: 27101-052130-BNDL; Description: Vanquish F Essen. Kit; Qty: 1

Line 2.6 - Part: 27101-052130; Description: Vanquish C18+ column 50mm; Qty: 1

Line 2.7 - Part: F25130-2; Description: 100pk Nylon Syringe Filters; Qty: 1

Line 2.8 - Part: F7510-3; Description: 100pk Disposable Syringe; Qty: 1

Line 2.9 - Part: 60180-VT402; Description: 100pk Surestop vials and caps; Qty: 1

Line 2.10 - Part: 6000.1001; Description: Power Cord (125V) 3xAWG18, 2.0 m; Qty: 3

Line 2.11 - Part: 6036.1570; Description: VALVE 6 - P 7-P 150MPA BIO VH-C; Qty: 2

Line 2.12 - Part: 6732.0007; Description: CONVERSION KIT, VH/VC-C10-A-02; Qty: 1

Line 2.13 - Part: 6040.2303; Description: Fingertight Viper Plug with 10-32 Fittiing; Qty: 6

Line 2.14 - Part: 6720.0405; Description: MS Connection Kit Vanquish; Qty: 1

Line 3.0 - Part: 4780.0384; Description: SII FOR XCALIBUR: DVD, CURRENT VERSION; Qty: 1

Line 4.0 - Part: 6042.2330; Description: VIPER CAP., IDXL 0.10X250MM, MP35N; Qty: 6

Line 5.0 - Part: 6042.2380; Description: Viper Cap., IDxL 0,18x650mm MP35N; Qty: 1

Line 6.0 - Part: 6042.2350; Description: Viper Cap., IDxL 0,10x450mm MP35N; Qty: 1

Line 7.1 - Part: 701-057943; Description: Extended Warranty Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 7.2 - Part: 701-057944; Description: Performance Maintenance Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 7.3 - Part: 701-054613; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Split Sampler FT; Qty: 1

Line 7.4 - Part: 701-054618; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Base System; Qty: 1

Line 7.5 - Part: 701-055150; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Binary Pump; Qty: 1

Line 7.6 - Part: 701-054215; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Column Compartment H; Qty: 1

Line 8.1 - Part: 701-057943; Description: Extended Warranty Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 8.2 - Part: 701-057944; Description: Performance Maintenance Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 8.3 - Part: 701-054613; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Split Sampler FT; Qty: 1

Line 8.4 - Part: 701-054618; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Base System; Qty: 1

Line 8.5 - Part: 701-055150; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Binary Pump; Qty: 1

Line 8.6 - Part: 701-054215; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Column Compartment H; Qty: 1

Line 9.1 - Part: 701-057943; Description: Extended Warranty Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 9.2 - Part: 701-057944; Description: Performance Maintenance Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 9.3 - Part: 701-054613; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Split Sampler FT; Qty: 1

Line 9.4 - Part: 701-054618; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Base System; Qty: 1

Line 9.5 - Part: 701-055150; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Binary Pump; Qty: 1

Line 9.6 - Part: 701-054215; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Column Compartment H; Qty: 1

Line 10.1 - Part: 701-057943; Description: Extended Warranty Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 10.2 - Part: 701-057944; Description: Performance Maintenance Exploris 120; Qty: 1

Line 10.3 - Part: 701-054613; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Split Sampler FT; Qty: 1

Line 10.4 - Part: 701-054618; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Base System; Qty: 1

Line 10.5 - Part: 701-055150; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Flex Binary Pump; Qty: 1

Line 10.6 - Part: 701-054215; Description: Extended Warranty - Vanquish Column Compartment H; Qty: 1

Salient Characteristics:

Prospective products must have the following general salient characteristics:

1. Liquid chromatograph (LC)-high resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) with a quadrupole Orbitrap mass analyzer
2. The mass spectrometer must have dimensions of no more than (h x d x w):  71 x 77 x 54 cm (28 x 30 x 21 inches)
3. Software for lipid identification based upon raw MS, LC/MS, and MS/MS and that includes large database (>1.5 million ions) for lipid ions and corresponding fragment ions. Software includes statistical package to analyze samples for variability both qualitatively and quantitatively.
4. Software for small molecule structural identification based upon high-resolution full MS isotopes and  MS/MS data. Software can automatically annotate spectra with predicted fragmentation and conduct statistics and differential analysis for samples using t-tests, ANOVA, PCA, PLS-DA, volcano plots, box-and-whisker plots, and heatmaps.
5. 3 days onsite Method and Application consulting for LC/MS and software.

The Liquid Chromatograph (LC) must have the following salient characteristics:

1. LC system composed of high pressure mixing binary pump, thermostated autosampler, thermostated column compartment, and LightPipe diode array detector
2. Backpressure capability of 1034 Bar or 15,000 PSI for the entire system at a flow rate of up to 5ml/min.
3. Entire flow path must be fully biocompatible (pH range 2–12, buffer and/or chloride concentration up to 1 mol/L)
4. Must support both Adiabatic and Isothermal temperature control on column with an actively controlled pre heater up to 120 °C
5. Flow Range: 0.001–8 mL/min, in 1 μL/min increments
6. Pressure Range:  2–103 MPa (20–1034 bar, 290–15,000 psi) With a flow rate above 5 mL/min, the pressure range decreases linearly down to 80 MPa (800 bar, 11,600 psi)
7. Number of Solvent Lines: 6
8. Solvent Degassing: Built-in, 2 Channels
9. Autosampler Compartment Temperature Range: 4–40 °C
10. Autosampler Temperature Accuracy: -2 °C/+4 °C
11. Autosampler Temperature Stability: ±1 °C
12. Sample Capacity: Any four of the following (SBS footprint) • 54 × 12 mm OD vials (≤1.5 mL) • 96 × 6, 7 and 8 mm OD vials (≤1.2 mL) • 24 × 15 mm OD vials (≤4 mL) • Well plates (96 and 384, deep and shallow) + capacity of 12 22.5 mm OD vials (≤10 mL) in the carousel.

Mass Spectrometry (MS) must have the following salient characteristics:

1. Mass Resolution: Maximum resolution of 120,000 (FWHM) at m/z 200 for all scan modes and both polarities. Minimum resolution of 15,000 (FWHM) at m/z 200 for all scan modes and both polarities.
2. Instrument Sensitivity: MS/MS: 200 fg Reserpine on column yields S/N 100:1 RMS or better. tSIM: 200 fg Reserpine on column yields S/N 250:1 RMS or better.
3. Mass Accuracy: < 3 ppm RMS – with external calibration over 24 h and without any kind of mass re-calibration. < 1 ppm RMS – with user-defined lock mass internal calibration. < 1 ppm RMS – with EASY-IC internal calibration for at least 5 days.
4. Scan Speed: 22 scans per second (R=15,000 at m/z 200) in Full MS Scan or SIM mode. 14 MS/MS scans per second at resolution (R=15,000 at m/z 200) in targeted or data-dependent mode.
5. m/z Range: Operate in the m/z range of 40 – 3,000
6. Dynamic Range: > 5,000:1 within one spectrum (single transient acquisition)
7. Isolation: The instrument must be able to isolate ions stepless between: 0.4 Da and full mass range (between m/z 40 and m/z 400); 0.7 Da and full mass range (between m/z 400 and m/z 700); 1 Da and full mass range (between m/z 700 and m/z 1000); 1.5 Da and full mass range (between m/z 1000 and m/z 1500); 2 Da and full mass range (between m/z 1500 and m/z 2000)
8. Fragmentation: Must have a straight ion routing multipole with axial field for Higher Energy Collisional Dissociation (HCD). Must have Stepped Normalized Collision Energy to allow multiple activation energies to be applied to the same precursor.
9. Heated Electrospray Ionization Probe (HESI): Operate at flow rates from 1µL/min to 1 mL/min using 100% water without splitting; probe needle must be moveable in the x, y and z dimensions relative to the sampling orifice; capable of temperatures up to 400oC to increase the desolvation efficiency and decrease chemical noise.
10. Mass spectrometer must not need liquid cooling
11. Mass spectrometer must not require external gases except nitrogen

Warranty and Product Support:

At a minimum the Warranty and Product support should include:

1. On-site corrective maintenance visits including required factory certified replacement parts, labor and travel with a target of three (3) business day on-site response time
2. Annual Preventive Maintenance visit and a standard Preventive Maintenance Kit
3. Priority status for technical support telephone inquires
4. 10% Loyalty discount on parts, accessories, and consumables
5. Performance Maintenance (optics cleaning) is excluded
6. Replacements for shipping damage
7. Replacements for manufacturing defect upon examination
8. Temporary replacement units during warranty period
9. Coverage of shipping cost of temporary replacement unit to the customer

At a minimum Support should include:

1. Introductory onsite training and support,
2. Technical support by phone and email,
3. Temporary replacement units during repair period

Capability Statement / Information Sought:

Respondents must provide clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing the products and support services specified in this notice. Also, information must be provided in sufficient details of the respondents’ (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information.

The respondent must also provide their  DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, 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.

Finally, respondents are also encouraged to provide a general overview of the respondent’s opinions about the difficulty and/or feasibility of the potential requirement, and any other information regarding innovative ideas or concepts that may be applicable.

Submission Instructions:                                                            

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. The information submitted must be must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the 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) page limit.  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 Contracting Officer Identified below. The response must be received on or before May 5th at 3:00 p.m. EST. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

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).