THIS IS A NOTICE ON INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT AND IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS.   The Intent of this Special Notice is for informational purposes only.    U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Research Service (ARS)  in Beltsville, Maryland intends to issue a firm fixed price  award to Illumina, Inc. , located in San Diego, California for the following: Catalog Number: WG-401-1004, Infinium iSelect Custom Beadchips, quantity of 32 each of 24 samples.   Illumina, Inc. is the sole manufacturer and owner of this patented technology.  No other Beadchips are compatible with this technology.     This notice of intent is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government.  This notice is not a request for competitive quotations.  No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored.  Any firm that believes it can provide the equipment listed above may submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact not later than COB February 17, 2014.  The successful company must be registered in the Central Contractor's Database (CCR) and also the Online Representations and Certification (ORCA) at http://orca.bpn.gov.  Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.  Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.  A determination not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government.  The Point of Contact for this action is Mr. John Wilkinson who can be reached at  the email address: [email protected]

Anticipated award date is February 18, 2014.