The Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is seeking a service agreement for the ION Sequencing System, which includes maintenance and support for critical laboratory equipment. The contract will cover a one-year AB Assurance plan with Life Technologies/ThermoFisher Scientific, ensuring comprehensive service including parts, labor, travel for repairs, and priority technical support for the ION S5 XL and S5 Prime sequencers, as well as the Ion Chef system. This procurement is vital for maintaining the functionality of advanced sequencing equipment used in medical research, which supports various health-related studies. Interested vendors must submit their quotations by December 9, 2025, to Tina Robinson at robinsti@mail.nih.gov, referencing solicitation number 75N94026Q00008, and must comply with all applicable FAR clauses and requirements.

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation, and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation number is 75N94026Q00008 and is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation/contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2025-06. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) Code is 811210 and the business size standard is $34m. However, this solicitation is not set aside for small business. This acquisition is being conducted using Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) intends to contract on a sole source basis with Life Technologies /ThermoFisher Scientific - 5781 Van Allen Way – Carlsbad, CA 92008 to procure a One-Year AB Assurance 1PM plan agreement for the ION Sequencing system to include the following:  
1. CHEF – SN: 242470813  
2. ION S5 XL SEQUENCER – SN: 2772817050213  
3. ION S5 PRIME SEQUENCER - SN: 2773919070236  
AB Assurance Plan includes:  
• Parts, labor and travel for remedial repair.  
• No charge for planned maintenance visits. This PM visit ensures optimal performance of your instrument, often preventing major breakdowns before they happen.  
• Guaranteed priority response time of 2 business days after receipt of a service call for instruments.  
• Target response time of 3 business days for remedial repairs.  
• Priority telephone and email access to instrument technical support.  
• Telephone and email access to application technical support.  
• Remote Monitoring and diagnostics (DX) Service, which provides notification to customers of instrument failures or errors that are reported by AB's Remote Monitoring software.  
• Hardware and software updates to the sequencer/chef system will be provided during the yearly PM.  
• Factory-certified replacement parts  
Tentative Period of Performance/Service: 12/15/2025 through 12/14/2026.  
BACKGROUND  
The mission is to support and conduct research on the impact on human health and well-being. The lab supports a wide range of medical research through grants to universities and other medical research institutions across the country. The institute also supports government scientists who conduct basic, translational and clinical research across a broad spectrum of research topics using state-of-the-art methodologies.  
Accordingly, the lab uses state-of-the-art sequencers to sequence libraries (both DNA and RNA prepared by members of the laboratory). The S5 generation sequencers in the lab (S5XL and S5 Prime) use libraries that are templated and loaded onto sequencing chips using the Ion Chef. Using the Ion Chef for templating and loading the prepared libraries results in consistent loading of the chips which ultimately yields a better-quality sequence. The Chef and sequencers need to be maintained and serviced when they have problems.  
Thermo Fisher Scientific is the sole manufacturer of the instruments listed in this posting and has not issued a letter of assurance nor provided a manufacturer’s training certification to any third party (or its employees, subcontractors, or agents) for the service of its manufactured instruments.  
Thermo Fisher Scientific maintains intellectual property rights to its data collection software and service tools software. Third-party resellers and service providers are strictly prohibited and unauthorized to access, use, or sell this software. Doing so strictly violates our intellectual property rights.  
The proposed contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under authority of the 41 U.S.C. 253(c) (1), FAR  
6.302. This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may  
identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. The offeror must include a completed copy of the provision of FAR Clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Products and Commercial Services (May 2024) (Deviation Feb 2025) with its offer. The provisions of FAR Clause 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items; FAR Clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items; FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items; and FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders – Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Jan 2025)(Deviation Feb 2025); FAR Clause 52.204-8 Annual Representations and Certifications (Jan 2025)(Deviation Feb 2025) – Deviation for Simplified Acquisitions applies to this acquisition. The offeror must include their Unique Entity ID (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. Note: The contractor/offeror must provide a completed copy of FAR 52.204-24, "Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment" with their quote in response to this solicitation. The clauses are available in full text at http://www.acquisition.gov/far/. Interested vendors capable of furnishing the government with the service specified in this synopsis should submit a copy of their quotation via email to robinsti@mail.nih.gov. Responses to this solicitation must include enough information to  
establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing all products and services needed. Responses must be accompanied by descriptive literature, warranties and/or other information that demonstrates that the offer meets all the foregoing requirements. Authorized Service Partner/Dealer must include signed Thermo Fisher Scientific certification documentation confirming authorization and certified capability to provide all services and products, maintain all existing warranties for the instruments, identified in this notice. Responses to this notice without this confirmation from the manufacturer, Thermo Fisher Scientific will be considered as invalid.  
Quotations will be due on December 9, 2025, before 5:00 pm eastern daylight time via email to robinsti@mail.nih.gov. Attn: Tina Robinson. The quotation must reference “Solicitation number 75N94026Q00008. All responsible sources may submit a quotation, which if timely received, shall be considered by the agency. Any questions must be sent via email to robinsti@mail.nih.gov and must include solicitation# 75N94026Q00008 in the subject line of email.  
Note: In order to receive an award, contractors must maintain an active SAM registration for all awards throughout the entire contract/order lifecycle, from offer submission to final payment. Failure to maintain an active SAM registration can jeopardize the award or result in non-payment. Lack of valid registration in SAM will make an offeror ineligible for award.  
Note: “System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations, including 52.223-22, Public Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Goals— Representation, and paragraph (t) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Agencies will not consider or use these representations. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM.”

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