Mouse Digital Ventilated Cage (DVC) Individually Ventilated Rack System – Pilot Expansion and Software License

NOI-PCA-ORS-26-09461
NAICS – NAICS – 513210 / $47M – SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS
THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT AND NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS. The Division of Veterinary Resources (DVR), within the Office of Research Services (ORS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Tecniplast Group, USA, P.O. Box 1209, West Chester, PA 19380. This requirement requires the procurement, delivery, installation, commissioning, and training associated with an expansion of its existing Tecniplast Digital Ventilated Cage (DVC) individually ventilated caging (IVC) rack system for mice at NIH facilities located in Bethesda, Maryland. DVR currently operates a Tecniplast DVC demonstration/pilot rack system, and this acquisition will procure additional Tecniplast DVC-compatible racks, cages, air handling units, software licensing, and related components necessary to expand housing capacity while maintaining full technical and data compatibility with the existing installed system. Continuous access to a single, compatible ventilated caging and automated monitoring platform is critical to maintaining animal welfare, biocontainment integrity, data continuity, and compliance with federal regulations governing laboratory animal care.
DVR previously installed a Tecniplast DVC demonstration rack system at its Bethesda, Maryland facility to evaluate individually ventilated caging performance and automated, non-invasive home-cage monitoring capability, including artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML)-enabled analysis of animal activity and welfare indicators. DVR now requires an expansion of that system to increase mouse housing capacity while preserving compatibility with the already-installed racks, cages, air handling units, control infrastructure, and DVC software platform. This acquisition supports the initial expansion phase of DVR's broader Mouse Housing Infrastructure Modernization program. Separately, DVR's...