Illumina Dragen Server

The National Institutes of Health – NCI Lab of Pathology intends to solicit the services of a contractor to provide Dragen (Dynamic Read Analysis for GENomics) Sever from Illumina for on-premises solution for highly accurate and comprehensive gene and sequencing analysis. The server is user-friendly hardware to operate analysis on the server that does not require sample pooling and indexing and can only be sourced from the manufacturer, Illumina, Inc.

The main objective is to buy the bioinformatics data processing “DRAGEN” server (IT hardware) provided by the manufacturer (Illumina Inc.) for clinical Next Generation Sequencing. The DRAGEN server will have pre-installed Dragen TruSight Oncology 500 (TSO500) and Dragen TSO500 ctDNA analysis software support secondary analysis for the data generated by the Lab’s current clinical TSO500 assay, and new TSO500 v2, TSO500 HRD add-on assay, TSO500 ctDNA assay. The lab plans to start new TSO500 assays in July 2026. All new TSO500 assays come with Illumina’s proprietary bioinformatics pipeline that is only available on DRAGEN server. The server will be mounted on NIH Biowulf cluster by the NIH CIT team (a MOU has been signed between NCI and CIT).

This server comes with bio-informatics pipeline from Illumina which is optimized and runs on DRAGEN hardware. Accelerates IO process and speeds up the compute time and will eventually be used for full whole gene sequencing within the institute. It’s possible to host the server locally or on the (NCI) loud.

Existing LP pipelines are already connected to Helix drives and use BioWulf. This needs storage drives mapped. The instrumentations are connected to Helix drives. The raw data drive cannot be mapped with a service account to Helix drive. The input to DRAGEN should be from a drive that’s already mapped to a sequencer. The vendor will provide 24/7 support both remotely and locally and replace parts and provide labor and software upgrades using the exclusive hardware/software supplies/services which makes this procurement a true sole source requirement.

This proposed procurement is for supplies for which the government intends to solicit and negotiate on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 6.302 to Illumina Inc., located at 5200 Illumina Way San Diego CA 92122-4616. In order to comply with the requirements in this Special Notice, the responses should be based on our interpretation of the general requirements provided above.

The proposed contract action is for a continuation of similar supplies which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit quotations. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. However, all quotes received within the time and date of publication of this notice will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete with this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.