260101 - Contract for Supply, Delivery, Installation & Commissioning and Maintenance of a High Throughput Live-Cell Imaging System

Tender description

The Future Medicines Institute (FMI) requires a high throughput live-cell imaging system<br />to enable FMI scientists and collaborators to monitor live cell imaging in real time under<br />optimal conditions of cell growth in a properly maintained carbon dioxide and humidity<br />environment to enable the efficient capture of cellular changes as they happen in the<br />incubator. <br />The objective of procuring a live cell imaging system is to enhance FMI’s capacity to<br />monitor cells in real time, in an optimally controlled environment, to support and<br />strengthen its drug discovery capabilities.<br />The proposed system must:<br /><br />• Be capable of multiplate/vessel imaging, up to a capacity of 6 plates/vessels and<br />including capacity to image 6 384 well plates, to meet the volume of analysis that the<br />centre is undertaking and support high throughput drug screening projects.<br />• Enable high resolution fluorescence and bright field images to be captured and recorded<br />in real time over hours, days, or weeks. <br />• Offer flexibility to enable users to observe and quantify complex biological changes over<br />time in cells and 3d structures such as spheroids and organoid models.<br />• Include a fully integrated image acquisition system to capture real-time insight into<br />morphological and phenotypic changes and allow multiple users the opportunity to<br />perform complex cellular assays.<br />• Offer versatile assay configurations, supporting various experimental formats such as 2d<br />cell systems and 3d spheroid, and organoid models.<br />The procurement of this live cell imaging system directly supports FMI’s broader goals of:<br />• Accelerating drug discovery through rapid identification and characterisation of<br />therapeutic candidates<br />• Providing screening capabilities in high-throughput format<br />• Facilitating translational research by bridging fundamental cellular studies with<br />therapeutic applications.<br />The procurement of a live cell imaging system will provide direct benefit to research<br />scientists within FMI, and wider stakeholders such as partner organisations and the wider<br />academic community in Queens University Belfast (QUB) by:<br />• Significantly enhance its cellular screening capabilities.<br />• Enhancing live cell imaging capabilities and data acquisition throughput in optimised<br />cellular conditions.<br />• Reducing time in setting up multiple vessels for multiple time point experiments.<br />• Reducing plasticware consumables and expensive reagents currently used in setting up<br />multiple time point experiments. <br />If funding becomes available to address future expansion needs the University reserves<br />the right to purchase additional Live-Cell Imaging Systems during the life of the contract.<br />Subject to the availability of funding, the University may optionally purchase additional<br />Live Cell Imaging Systems during the term of the contract. Any such additional purchases<br />shall be non guaranteed, limited to the optional items and maximum quantities and/or<br />values set out in the Pricing Schedule, and shall have been included in the estimated<br />contract value for the purposes of this procurement.