National Institute on Drug Abuse, Office of Acquisitions- Neurosciences, Station Support/Simplified Acquisition, on behalf of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a noncompetitive basis to Agilent Technologies, 2850 Centerville Road, Wilmington, Delaware 19808 for equipment to upgrade an existing Bravo Liquid Handling Platform to include One (1) Benchtop Integrated Workstation; One (1) Labware MiniHub for up to 40 microplates or 16 tip boxes in a compact highly accessible four position carousel; One (1) iKitV XR, benchCel 146 mm; One (1) Bravo Orbital Shaker; One (1) PCR Plate support; all customized hardware necessary to complete upgrade installation.

Agilent is the sole manufacturer of the Bravo Liquid Handling Platform and the existing upgrade equipment.

The acquisition is being conducted under simplified acquisition using FAR 12 procedures and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6, Competition Requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this synopsis. The determination by the Government not to compete the proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely with the discretion of the Government.

Comments to this announcement, referencing synopsis number NOI2083804 may be submitted to the NIDA, Station Support/Simplified Acquisition Branch, 31 Center Drive, Bldg 31, Room 1B59, Bethesda, MD 20892-2080, and Attention: Idella Simpson, Contract Specialist or electronically to [email protected] on or before May 18, 2011at 12 pm.