Contracts awarded

Date of publication Simap: 01.06.2022

1. Contracting authority

1.1 Official name and address of the contracting authority

Contracting authority/Authority of assignment: ETH Zürich
Procurement authority/Organizer: ETH Zürich
The SwissCAT+ East Hub,  attn Dr. Paco Laveille, Leopold-Ruzicka-Weg 4,  8093  Zürich,  Switzerland,  E-mail:  publictender@ethz.ch,  URL https://swisscatplus.ch/cat-east

1.2 Type of contracting authority

Decentralized federal administration - public-legal organizations of the federation and other supporting organisations assuming federal tasks

1.3 Type of procedure

Direct award procedure

1.4 Type of order

Supply order

1.5 Scope of international treaties

Yes

2. Objects of procurement

2.1 Project title of the acquisition

Automatic solids dosing unit for the Swiss CAT+ East Hub at ETH Zurich

Subject and scope of the contract :  CAT+East is purchasing a unit with tools and features to automate solid powders dispensing from vial(s) to vial(s) and well-plates

2.2 Common Procurement Vocabulary

CPV:	38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

3. Decision of acceptance

3.1 Award criteria

not applicable

3.2 Tenderer considered

Name: Unchained Labs, 6870 Koll Center Parkway,  94566  Pleasanton, CA,  United States of America
Price (total price):  USD 360'463.07 without VAT

3.3 Reasons for the decision to award

Reasons: according to article 21, clause 2, letter c PPA
Unchained labs was the only one that fully satisfied the CAT+ needs. In particular, it is the only solution that could:
- Automate the solid dispense directly from standard 4mL vials without the need of additional transfer to other type of containers.
- Dispense powders with a wide range (from sub-mg to grams) in a single fast dispense (tare, dispense, weigh - below 180 seconds target time for a 200mg dispense - depending on powder properties and experiment settings).
- Dispense a large variety of powder types without the need of fine tuning the dispense parameters thanks to an adaptive learning algorithm.
- Dispense not only to individual vials with multiple sizes but also to full well-plates with different configurations.
- Weight both the individual vials and the full well-plates after the dispense with an integrated-on deck balance.
- Store the vials and well-plates in a wide range of storage hotels for fully automated barcode tracking and powder dispensing of large compound libraries (≥300 samples).

4. Other information

4.2 Date of the award

Date: 31.05.2022

4.5 Procedures for appeal

In accordance with Article 56 paragraph 1 of the Public Procurement Act (PPA), a written appeal against this decision can be lodged with the Federal Administrative Court, P.O. Box, 9023 St. Gallen, Switzerland, within 20 days of notification. Any appeal is to be submitted in duplicate and must include what is being sought, the grounds for appeal, evidence and the signature of the person lodging the appeal or his or her representative. A copy of this decision and available evidence must be included.
The provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) on legal holidays do not apply in accordance with Article 56 paragraph 2 of the PPA.