Pursuant to FAR 6.302(a), the Wilkes Barre VAMC intends to award a sole-source contract to Cepheid. Purchase is for co-operative service agreement for Cepheid GeneXpert 16 System for the period 1 November 2008 through 31 October 2009. Service agreement will cover all repairs, parts and labor, replacement parts for failed modules, and annual optical and thermal calibrations. VAMC Bio-Medical Engineering techs will partner with contractor to provide the labor to do module exchange for any repairs and calibrations. Contractor will provide all parts, labor and return shipping costs associated with the repair and/or calibration of the instrument incurred during the contract period. Contractor will exchange all modules requiring optical and thermal calibration on an annual basis during the month of November 2008. Interested persons who feel they can provide a like or superior system may identify such interest, in writing, to the Contracting Officer via email (
[email protected]) before 10:00 AM local time, 30 October 2008. This notice is neither a request for competitive proposals nor a solicitation of offers. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Simplified Acquisition Procedures will be utilized for this procurement. This procurement will be a total small-business set-aside. Thank you for your interest.