In accordance with §11-35-1560 (A) of the SC Consolidated Procurement Code, it is the intent of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to award without competition, a sole source contract in accordance with Regulation 19-445.2105 (B) (5) to Molecular Devices, LLC for the purchase of a Fluorescent Imaging Plate Reader (FLIPR) Penta System.
Purpose and Objectives: The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine needs this specific high-throughput cellular screening system for use by the South Carolina Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) cellular and molecular biomarker core to perform real-time quantitative optical screening for cell-based kinetic assays to measure multiple types of signaling occurring at multiple levels within cells that drive cell functions.
The FLIPR will be used to analyze a broad array of human and animal cells of interest to investigators. This will include various genetically modified cells to address disease pathology, as well as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from brain bank isolated donor cells from patients with neurodegenerative disease. The iPSCs can be induced to become different types of brain cells containing the individual genetic differences that may influence disease generation and progression. This will allow tremendous opportunities to understand the neurodegenerative disease processes and the effects of specific differences due to genetic or environmental effects.
Sole Source Justification: Current MUSC researchers, who will be participating in the ADRC, have requested the FLIPR Penta for use in explements planned to support NIH grant applications. This includes a number of molecules and mechanisms that they are accessing their roles in neurodegenerative disease processes. Examples include modified GPCR cytokine ligands and receptors such as CXCL12 and CXCR4/ACKR3, discovering the molecules driving aging and Alzheimer’s disease CNS cell associated senescence and the related signaling systems, growth factor neuregulin-1 (NRG1) and its erbB receptors related to multiple neurodegenerative disorders.
The FLIPR Penta System is the only instrument that provides investigators with the ability to analyze this variety of cellular applications with the simple scalability and adaptability needed by the ADRC to perform the analysis of neurodegenerative disorders.
The Fluorescent Imaging Plate Reader (FLIPR) Penta System is solely manufactured, distributed and serviced by Molecular Devices, LLC.
QUESTIONS: Shall be addressed to the email address of the Procurement Officer indicated below.
PROTESTS (MAY 2019): If you are aggrieved in connection with the intended award of this contract, you may be entitled to protest, but only as provided in §11-35-4210. To protest an intended award of a contract pursuant to §11-35-1560, you shall (i) notify the chief procurement officer in writing of your intent to protest within five (5) business days of the date this intent to award is posted, and (ii) if the appropriate chief procurement officer has been timely notified of your intent to protest, you may submit your actual protest within fifteen days of the date this notice of intent to award is posted. Days are calculated as provided in §11-35-310(13). Both protests and notices of intent to protest must be in writing and must be received by the appropriate Chief Procurement Officer within the time provided. The grounds of the protest and the relief requested must be set forth with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided.
Any protest or notice of intent to protest must be addressed to the Chief Procurement Officer, Materials Management Office, and submitted in writing (a) by email to: protest-mmo@mmo.sc.gov or (b) by post or delivery to: 1201 Main Street, Suite 600, Columbia, SC 29201
This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Any responsible sources who wish to identify their interest and capability to provide these services must notify this Contracting Specialist at byrdg@musc.edu prior to the contact deadline: Dec 7th, 2023, at 12:00 AM EST. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Upon receipt of the interested parties’ notification, the Contracting Officer will determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement or proceed with sole source negotiations.