Notice of Intent to Sole Source – Roberts Oxygen Co.

The purpose of this acquisition is for liquid nitrogen required for continuity of safe and quality patient care at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center (CC).

•            Product Service Code: 6515 – Medical Instruments, Equipment, and Supplies

•            NAICS Code: 339112 – Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing

•            Place of Performance: Bethesda, MD 20892 USA

POTS: 25-000034

Description:

This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation.  A solicitation document will not be issued and quotations will not be requested.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to award a fixed price purchase order to Roberts Oxygen Co. Inc., located at 15830 Redland Rd, Derwood, MD 20855, on a firm fixed price sole source award basis to provide liquid nitrogen to the National Institutes of Health.

Below is a description of the item(s):

Description: Liquid Nitrogen Per 100CU FT For Del to Micro-Bulk System

Units: Each

Qty: 30000

Catalog: LN2CCF

Description: 1500-Gal Nitrogen Tank, VRTCL Monthly/Rental 12 Month

Units: Each

Qty: 12

Catalog: RT15VCN2

The bulk liquid nitrogen tank that CCE rents from Roberts Oxygen liquid nitrogen is already installed

on campus. Changing vendors would require removal of the existing tank and the associated

plumbing to the 2J facility and installation of a new system. This would be prohibitively expensive

and introduce delays where CCE could not manufacture and store cell therapies. This would impact

patient care. This request is for the continuation of a previously approved service with this vendor.

Although the liquid nitrogen is already installed on campus from several sources, only Roberts

Oxygen has been approved by the Center for Cellular Engineering Quality Assurance Department for

use in manufacturing protocols. Substitution with another maker would require requalification of

processes to accommodate the changes, which will be both costly and time-consuming for the

government. In addition, the delays to requalify this material will introduce delays for patients

requiring treatment, which could impact their clinical outcome and the interpretation of the efficacy

of the treatments being evaluated in clinical trials.

This acquisition is being conducted using policies unique to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13 – Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1(b)(1), For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstance of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available.  Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6-Competition Requirements.

Interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this posting. The determination by the Government not to compete the proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Comments to this announcement, referencing this posting number, may be submitted to the NIH, Clinical Center, Office of Purchasing and Contracts, prior to the closing date specified in this announcement, to the attention of Kristin Nagashima, Contract Specialist via email to Kristin.nagashima@nih.gov by December 12, 2025 at 12pm EST.