Service agreement for a clinical Philips Ingenia Elition 3.0T MRI Scanner

NIH-NOI-26-PCA-NCI-00120 

NAICS – 811210 Other Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance 

J066 -Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding of Equipment 

This is a Notice of Intent (NOI). This notice is published in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.101(a)(1) requiring the dissemination of information regarding proposed contract actions. This is a Notice of Intent to award a sole source, firm-fixed price purchase order under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), as implemented by FAR 13.106-1(b) and 13.501(a)- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Service Will Satisfy Agency Requirements and is not a request for quotes. 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Philips North America LLC(Philips), 22100 Bothell Everett Highway, Bothell, WA 98021-8431 to provide maintenance services for imaging equipment located at the Molecular Imaging Branch (MIB) in Bethesda, Maryland. The equipment to be maintained consist of the following:  

• Philips Ingenia Elition 3.0T MRI Scanner (Site: 77647001; S/N 45060) 

The Period of Performance shall consist of one (1) twelve-month base period and three (3) twelve-month option periods, as follows:  

Base Period:  5/10/2026 - 5/9/2027  

Option Period One:  5/10/2027 - 5/9/2028  

Option Period Two:  5/10/2028 - 5/9/2029  

Option Period Three:  5/10/2029 – 5/9/2030 

Services shall be performed in Bethesda, MD. MIB conducts research in designing, developing and testing new novel targeted imaging agents for the detection and characterization of cancer.  These imaging agents include tissue-specific MRI, PET, radionuclide, and optical probes.  MIB is focused on the clinical translation of targeted imaging agents for cancer imaging. As part of the clinical effort, the MIB houses a clinical Philips Ingenia Elition 3.0T MRI Scanner on which clinical research patients are scanned. This has proven invaluable in the kinds of patients seen at the NCI. The MIB is proposing to renew a service agreement for the Ingenia Elition 3.0T MRI Scanner. Since the installation, Philips North America LLC has been the service provider.   

 This service agreement is required so that the MIB may continue to perform patient scanning for the clinical trials if the instrument is in need of repair. The requirement type is for severable services. The medical imaging system requires yearly maintenance contracts to make sure their performance is stable and to tackle any repairs in a timely fashion, should the need arise. Philips Medical system is the vendor of the medical imaging scanners installed at MIB and is the only vendor with experience in servicing medical imaging equipment installed within MIB.   

The OEM shall perform preventative, remedial maintenance and repair services to maintain the equipment in good working condition in accordance with the equipment manufacturer’s specifications. The contractor will provide all facilities, service, reports, materials, parts, test equipment, transportation, labor, and all other related services for servicing the imaging equipment at MIB.  

The OEM will follow all Federal, State, and local laws related to the safety and health personnel and property damage. Due to the security requirements imposed by the government the contractor personnel shall make appropriate arrangements for escorted entrance into MIB to perform diagnostics, preventative maintenance, and service on the equipment. As the OEM, Philips deems it necessary to maintain the instruments in accordance with their proprietary design, specifications, certified engineers, and parts to provide optimal performance. To use a different vendor and parts may cause the instruments to not be calibrated to optimal specifications such that the samples between experiments will not be analyzed and compared. Quality of experimental results may be compromised and time lost due to repeated experiments to confirm experimental results. To provide services where engineers do not have the right credentials to perform remote troubleshooting, repair, or preventative maintenance could lead to these instruments becoming non-functioning and unrepairable causing the government to spend additional funds to repurchase needed equipment for the labs experimenting processes.  

The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 811210 Other Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance which has a size standard of $34.0 Million. Philips North America LLC is an other than small business.   

 
This will be the only notice of the Government's intent to solicit, negotiate, and award to one source to satisfy this requirement. The Government plans to award a contract for this requirement within 30 days of this notice. 

While this synopsis does not constitute a solicitation, interested vendors may identify their interest and capability to satisfy this requirement. The Government understands that Philips Imaging is the only vendor who can provide required maintenance services for the imaging equipment. However, firms that believe they can provide the capability required to fully meet the Government's requirement may submit a capabilities statement, including past performance, in writing to the identified point of contact within fifteen (15) days after publication of this notice. Such documentation shall be used solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit offers on NIH-NOI-26-PCA-NCI-00120.  

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for any information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.  

For additional information or to submit responses, please contact Linda Smith, Supervisory Contract Specialist at linda.smith2@nih.gov.