THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT, NOT A REQUEST FOR A PROPOSAL. A SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED AND PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE REQUESTED. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Office of Acquisitions (OA) on behalf of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a noncompetitive sole source basis to Applied Scientific Instrumentation, Inc., 29391 West Enid Rd., Eugene, OR 97402 to provide custom mechanical design and integration component parts for microscopy in constructing a new kind of selective plane illumination microscope that will involve dual excitation and dual detection with two cameras.

Applied Scientific Instrumentation, Inc. is the only vendor that can provide the necessary mechanical parts and the electronics to synch all components together with pre-existing cameras, lasers, and objectives. The use of their custom designed frame and mechanical stage is necessary in order to fit all pre-existing pieces of the microscope together. The sole source determination is based on the fact that there is currently no commercial microscope frame that can support this hardware functionality, thus supporting the determination to make a sole source award to Applied Scientific Instrumentation, Inc.

The delivery point is the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Building 13, 3rd Floor, Wing A, 13 South Drive, Bethesda, MD 20814.

The notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

This acquisition is being conducted under FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6, Competition Requirements. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. The determination by the Government not to compete the proposed purchase order based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Responses to this announcement, referencing synopsis number NHLBI-CSB-(EB)-2011-213-RNP may be submitted by mail to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Office of Acquisitions, COAC Services Branch, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Suite 6135, Bethesda, MD 20892-7902, Attention: Rieka Plugge, or by email to [email protected]. Fax copies will not be accepted.

Interested parties responding to this announcement need to do so by 7:30 am Eastern Standard Time on June 20, 2011. The response must include in their quotation, the unit price; the 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.

Note: In order to receive an award from the NHLBI, contractors must have a valid registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) www.ccr.gov, and ORCA https://orca.bpn.gov/login.aspx.

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