High-throughput Flow System for 96-well Transwell(R) Plate

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition (OA) on behalf of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) intends to negotiate and award a contract for one high-throughput flow system (HTFS) capable of exerting physiological shear stresses on human endothelial cell monolayers growing on standard Transwell® inserts in a 96-well plate.

EXTENT OF COMPETITION
This acquisition is full and open with no set-aside restrictions.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with a Size Standard of 1000 employees.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY
The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC): FAC_2019-01 dated January 22, 2019.

This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 15-contracting by Negotiations at an amount exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000).

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT
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. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is a translational science center whose 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 3-D Tissue Bioprinting Group at NCATS is invested in developing therapeutically relevant three-dimensional tissues for basic research and drug screening. Experts at NCATS are applying the techniques of 3-D printing to develop tissue models that mimic the 3-D structure and organization of cells in the tissues of living organisms. To achieve therapeutic relevance, certain projects must incorporate mechanical cues to create a physiologically relevant cell environment. The incorporation of shear stress is important for vascular projects, as cell function is influenced by mechanical cues, and the Transwell® system is positioned to enable research on many such vascular environments, such as the blood-brain barrier.

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this requirement is to obtain a commercially available (with or without modificaitosn) high-throughput flow system (HTFS) capable of exerting physiological shear stresses on human endothelial cell monolayers that are growing on standard Transwell® inserts in a 96-well plate and cultured with astrocytes on opposites sides of a membrane which mimic a blood-brain barrier.

Project Requirements
The Government seeks to acquire a HTFS for a standard 96-well plate format that utilizes cone-and-plate shear to create adjustable shear stresses with hemodynamic waveforms in each well. The system shall be compatible with existing cell culture laboratory incubators, allowing for temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide control. The system shall contain 8 motors, so that shear stress can be controlled independently in groupings of 12 wells within a single plate.

The following project specification are deemed essential to this acquisition. The system must:

(1) Apply adjustable shear stresses and hemodynamic waveforms to endothelial cell monolayers growing on standard Transwell® inserts in a 96-well place;

(2) Apply shear stress in a manner that does not decrease the viability of cells in the monolayer;

(3) Be compatible with standard 96-well plate format;

(4) Fit into a standard culture incubator, with electronics and hardware reliable for extended (1 week) operation without corrosion or other failure modes;

(5) Control mechanical cues independently between group of 12 wells in a single plate;

(6) Allow for easy access to tissue on both sides of membrane for media changes and imaging during culture period;

(7) Maintain temperature stability in incubator of +/- 1°C;

(8) Produce shear stress control of +/- 2dyn/cm2 estimated from modeling and geometric/motor waveform measurements and spot-checked in the system.

Delivery
Delivery is expected within 10-12 months ARO.

CLOSING STATEMENT
The solicitation will be issued on or about Febraury 7, 2019 and bids or proposals will be tentatively due about 30 days after the solicitation release date.

Potential offerors may request a copy of the solicitation from the Contract Specialist, Hunter Tjugum, electronically at hunter.tjugum@nih.gov. Please reference the solicitation on your electronic request.