The Utah Procurement Code provides that a procurement may be made without competition when the University determines that there is only one source that can reasonably meet the University’s need for the required supply or service, as described in Utah Code Ann. § 63G-6a-802.
The Purchasing Department has received the following request for sole source procurement
Current date: 20250402
Product and/or Service to be purchased: MMI CellCut Universal
Sole Source Supplier: Molecular Machines & Industries Inc.
Earliest Proposed Purchase Date: April 03, 2025
Buyer Name: Kayla McMullen
Sole Source Justification:
The CellCut instrument and its exact specifications are only available from MMI and are essential for the research intentions of the University of Utah. It is the only laser capture microdissection (LCM) instrument with an inverted platform capable of isolating cells directly from Petri dishes, with optional incubation for live-cell experiments. This is a pivotal advance for the cell culture experiments anticipated by several labs, as evidenced by the >15 letters of support from more than nine departments at the University of Utah supporting a RIF grant for this instrument. It is the only LCM instrument with high throughput options (eight-strip capture and 96-well plates), which is necessary for the scale of research intended. It also has the most precise cutting diameter in the market of 300nm, which is absolutely necessary to preserve sample quality for the highly sensitive work planned with this instrument. The CellCut’s laser precision is necessary to ensuring the quality of samples for downstream research applications, as are its high-throughput mechanisms and the avenues for cell culture experiments. Lastly, the CellCut offers distinct non-adhesive capture tubes that are compatible with numerous downstream applications, whereas all other systems utilize adhesive caps that alter and complicate sample transfer.
The benefits of the CellCut LCM (its laser precision, its inverted design, its modular fluorescent and robotics components, etc.) are specific and exclusive to this instrument. They are not interchangeable with any other system or instrument.
We discussed LCM instruments with specialists and collaborators across the globe and within the US, including meeting several individuals through conferences and publications to discuss their experiences with their institutions’ LCM instruments