The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (1), with Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., located at 1380 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 for the purchase of Pacific Biosciences branded reagents and consumables used in Pacific Biosciences branded RSII and Sequel instruments.

The sole source justification is based on the following: NIST owns and operates the above specified branded equipment. The only reagents and consumables compatible with the equipment are supplied by Pacific Biosciences. The reagents that Pacific BioSciences sells contain proprietary enzymes that only they sell. These reagents have been used by NIST for its Reference Material and Standard Reference Material measurements. Moving forward with future scientific analyses, NIST must be able to make comparable measurements, necessitating the use of these reagents. Otherwise, there exists no way to compare the scientific results of new experiments with those that have already been made.

Market research has shown that Pacific Biosciences is the only vendor capable of providing the required supplies to NIST and has no authorized resellers of their products.

Given these facts, the preferred vendor Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. is the only source reasonably available to provide the required reagents and consumables.

The resulting purchase order will be a Firm Fixed Price purchase order. The NAICS Code is 325414 with a size standard of 1,250 employees.

No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, interested parties who regard themselves as capable of fulfilling these requirements are invited to submit responses to the Government for consideration. Responses received by 11:00 am EST May 30th, 2016, will be considered by the Government.

A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Bid Protests Not Available