Automated Liquid Handling Platform

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is preparing to procure one newly manufactured benchtop automated liquid handling platform with delivery required within 30 days of award to the FDA White Oak Campus in Silver Spring, Maryland, with a sources sought notice due by September 11, 2026. No set-aside is anticipated.

The platform must fit and operate within a biosafety cabinet measuring 46 inches wide by 24 inches deep by 30 inches high and support 120 pounds without disrupting enclosure airflow. The system must feature interchangeable 96-channel or 384-channel pipetting heads with independent tip pickup capability, a minimum 15-position deck, and dispense 0.1 to 200 microliters with accuracy and precision no worse than 5% deviation. It shall perform serial dilutions using disposable tip heads, support standard 96-well and 384-well microplate formats, and operate under ambient conditions of 5 to 40 degrees Celsius and 10 to 90 percent relative humidity, non-condensing. The platform must be configurable for future shaking, heating, cooling, and filtration.

The procurement includes a dedicated Windows control computer with perpetual workstation-bound software capable of generating custom protocols, adaptors, attachments, technical documentation, installation, user training for up to three personnel, and a minimum 12-month manufacturer warranty with ancillary preventative maintenance. Installation must be completed within 90 days of delivery and includes placement, leveling, electrical connections, computer setup, software installation, calibration, system verification, and operational qualification testing.

The FDA has identified the Agilent Technologies Bravo Automated Liquid Handling Platform as meeting the requirement; equivalent items meeting all salient characteristics will be considered. The NAICS code is 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing) with a 1,000-employee size standard; PSC is 6640 (Laboratory Equipment and Supplies). Vendor responses must include capability statements not exceeding five pages in PDF format and completed Vendor Response Forms in native Microsoft Excel format.