Description
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is advertising its intention to enter into a single-source purchase contract with bioMérieux, Inc. for the replacement of obsolete modular laboratory equipment. The equipment in question is the VIDAS KUBE modular immunoassay instrument system, which is necessary for the detection of foodborne pathogens. The system is an automated immunoassay platform that uses proprietary test kits to perform high throughput analyses. The contract amount is estimated to be around $95,241.49.
• The VIDAS KUBE system is essential to supporting the laboratory’s three accredited AOAC Official Methods used for the detection of Salmonella species, Listeria species, and staphylococcal enterotoxin in regulatory, dairy, and Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) samples.
• The system provides the necessary analytical throughput, expanding capacity from 60 to 72 concurrent assays.
• The laboratory’s current VIDAS instrument has been designated obsolete by the manufacturer, with maintenance and technical support being phased out.