Opportunity Overview
The University of Montana is considering a sole-source procurement of a Leica Stellaris 8 conventional confocal and 2-photon microscope under solicitation UOM-SolSour-2027-0388. The current notice is an intent to sole source rather than a general competitive RFP. Vendors that can legitimately meet the University’s requirements with an equivalent solution may challenge the intended source under the controlling Montana eMACS event.
Deadline
Current Montana eMACS-derived procurement records report a response deadline of September 17, 2026 at 4:00 PM MDT. Chris Newlon, chris.newlon@mso.umt.edu, is identified as the procurement contact. Prospective challengers should verify the live event, documents, amendments, forms, and current response instructions in Montana eMACS before submitting.
Biomedical Research Purpose and Funding Context
The healthcare and biomedical-research relevance is unusually strong. HHS TAGGS confirms NIH award S10OD038268 to the University of Montana for the project Leica Stellaris 8 confocal and 2-photon microscope. The federal award is $1,328,615, with a July 14, 2026 action date and a July 15, 2026 through June 30, 2027 performance period. NIH describes the award activity as scientific/health research and states that the microscope will support biomedical research at the University’s BioSpectroscopy Core Research Laboratory, including disease- and development-related tissue imaging and research by multiple NIH-funded users.
The $1,328,615 figure is the related NIH equipment-project award, not a stated Montana procurement contract price. The public sole-source materials reviewed do not separately state the final purchase price or contract ceiling, and Atlas does not infer one.
Scope and Vendor Rules
The intended scope is a specialized advanced optical imaging system combining conventional confocal and two-photon microscopy capabilities. Public procurement records identify the solicitation as a University of Montana sole-source notice and identify NAICS 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, and PSC 6650, Optical Instruments, Test Equipment, Components and Accessories. There is no grant match or cost-share requirement because this is a procurement. Any challenge must be based on genuine product and service equivalency, not a general interest in supplying healthcare technology.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 64/100. This is a significant Montana higher-education biomedical-research procurement linked to a verified $1.328 million NIH instrumentation award, but the available vendor path is narrow because the state is pursuing a specific sole-source microscope system and only genuinely equivalent suppliers have a defensible challenge.
N9+ Fit: 0/100. The Nonagon N9+ remote physical examination platform does not satisfy the verified microscopy requirement. QC Healthcare Fit: 0/100. Dr. Miltie Direct Vendor Fit: 0/100. Atlas has no verified basis to represent Dr. Miltie, LLC as a Leica-equivalent confocal/two-photon microscopy supplier, so no direct response is being advanced.
Outreach and Next Action
No Dr. Miltie outreach is warranted. A qualified advanced-microscopy supplier considering an equivalency challenge should retrieve the controlling Montana eMACS package and substantiate all equivalent technical, service, warranty, installation, training, and support capabilities actually required by the solicitation. Atlas will not fabricate vendor qualifications or substitute unrelated clinical technology for the specified research instrumentation.
Sources
Controlling procurement system: Montana eMACS, solicitation UOM-SolSour-2027-0388. Funding context: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services TAGGS, NIH award S10OD038268 to the University of Montana.