Notice End Date: April 24, 2024

Vendor Name: INSCOPIX, INC.

Contract Amount: $66,850.00

Agency Procurement Manager: Shantelle P. Johnson

Agency Procurement Manager Email: johshant@musc.edu

Agency Procurement Manager Telephone#: 843-985-3149

The Agency hereby provides notice that it intends to enter into a sole source contract per S.C. Code Ann. §11-35-1560 with Vendor for the following supplies, services, information technology, or construction:

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 Inscopix, Inc.

 

BASIS OF SOLE SOURCE:

The MUSC College of Medicine’s Psychiatry Sleep & Anxiety Department is requesting the purchase of an nVista Essential Imaging System Starter Package from Inscopix, Inc. The nVista system is an imaging system that allows users to visualize cell activity in vivo and from free-behaving laboratory animals. nVista is solely intended to study cells (mostly brain cells) from small laboratory rodents such as mice and rats. The starter package includes one miniaturized one-photon fluorescent microscope with a coupled digital camera (aka the nVista miniscope), a digital interface box, one year remote and on-site technical support, a perpetual license for imaging data processing software, indispensable imaging accessories, and one year of system service.

The NIH-funded Dr. Blanco-Centurion research grant aims to study the activity changes among inhibitory and excitatory neurons related to the effects of ethanol intoxication on the causation of sleep disturbances. Most importantly, the euronal activity must be studied in vivo and under free-behaving conditions. The critical scientific instrument to reach this goal is miniscope.

The requested product from Inscopix, Inc. is the only available imaging system that meets Dr. Blanco-Centurion's research needs for imaging neurons from laboratory mice in vivo and freely behaving conditions. The device uses a proprietary GRIN lens to visualize deep subcortical regions of the brain, such as the hypothalamus. The system only weighs 2 grams, allowing mice to behave normally while being studied. The nVista system has an electronic focus, allowing the samples of different focal planes significantly increase the output. In addition, the nVista system features outstanding imaging data analysis software. The justification of the sole source is also grounded as Inscopix, Inc. currently does not have partnerships with any reseller.

Inscopix, Inc. is the exclusive developer and manufacturer of the nVistaTM miniature microscope, nVokeTM miniature microscope, and nVueTM miniature microscope + LScape module, data acquisition software, and data processing software package for large-scale imaging of calcium activity and blood flow dynamics in freely behaving rodents.

 

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 solicitation or award of the contract, you may be entitled to protest, but only as provided in Section 11-35-4210. To protest a solicitation, you must submit a protest within fifteen days of the date the applicable solicitation document is issued. To protest an award, you must (i) submit notice of your intent to protest within five business days of the date the award notice is posted, and (ii) submit your actual protest within fifteen days of the date the award notice is posted. Days are calculated as provided in Section 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. See clause entitled “Protest-CPO”. 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. [02-2A085-2]

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.state.sc.us 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 the Procurement Officer at johshant@musc.edu no later than April 24, 2024 (12:00AM EST). Telephone responses will not be accepted. Upon receipt of the interested parties' notification, the Procurement Officer will determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement or proceed with sole source negotiations.

Agency's justification for a sole source procurement may be viewed or immediately obtained at: Agency Procurement Manager (Listed Above)

PROTESTS:
Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract, shall notify the appropriate chief Procurement officer in writing of its intent to protest within five (5) business days of the date this notice is posted. Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor who is aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract and has timely notified the appropriate chief procurement officer of its intent to protest, may protest to the appropriate chief procurement officer in the manner set forth below within fifteen days of the date this notice is posted; except that a matter that could have been raised as a protest of the solicitation may not be raised as a protest of the award or intended award of a contract.
A protest must be in writing, filed with the appropriate chief procurement officer, and set forth the grounds of the protest and the relief requested with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided. The protest must be received by the appropriate chief procurement officer within the time provided above. Days are calculated as provided in S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-310(13).

Any Notice Of Intent To Protest And Protest Must Be Addressed To: Materials Management Officer