Official UK procurement notice
Automated Library Synthesis System
Authority: University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe University of Portsmouth is looking for an automated library synthesis system to support current and future research projects in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Science. The equipment will be used in research and teaching across the school in areas such as vaccine development, gene therapy, lipid nanoparticle research, drug formulation screening and process optimisation for manufacturing. We are looking to purchase an automated microfluidic platform designed for high-throughput screening and optimisation of nanoparticle formulations. It should enable users to run large numbers of experiments within a single workflow while tightly controlling formulation and process parameters, using minimal reagent volumes and incorporating automated cleaning to avoid cross-contamination. The system should combine programmable pumping, robotic liquid handling, interchangeable microfluidic mixing devices and integrated software for experimental design and data capture. It should offer an efficient and scalable approach to rapid formulation screening and the transfer of optimised conditions to downstream process development.
The seller is expected to supply, deliver, install the equipment and provide training to key users. We are seeking a five-year service plan to be included in the purchase. The seller must meet the mandatory essential criteria outline in the specification.
CPV: Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation buys Laboratory, optical and precision (CPV 38), and who usually turns up
University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Laboratory, optical and precision (CPV 38) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means registered in South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South East England.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 25 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid44% / 8%
2–311% / 77%
4–633% / 13%
7+11% / 3%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate17% / 69%
Within ±2%50% / 14%
Above estimate33% / 17%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1Published estimate£260k
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How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 39 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid8%
2–377%
4–613%
7+3%
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Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
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Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 26 Nov 2025, 15:19 GMT
- Last source update
- 27 Nov 2025, 14:32 GMT
- Authority reference
25RP525- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-077728- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e97aFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
26 Nov 2025 → 1 Jun 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published330 days ago26 Nov 2025, 15:19 GMT
- Market engagement307 days ago18 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
The University is conducting early market engagement to understand the range of automated microfluidic nanoparticle generation systems currently available that may meet our emerging specification for use in pharmaceutical research. The device should allow for high throughput manufacturing of large libraries of lipid nanoparticles. This is required for formulation screening and optimization for encapsulation and cellular delivery of nucleic acids (gene therapies).
The equipment should enable automated and high-speed manufacturing of lipid nanoparticles (maximum 10 m in per formulation) at a small scale (1- 2 mL per run), preferably in a 96 well plate format. It should also allow us to choose the suitable design of the microfluidic mixer which is fit for our purpose.
The equipment will be instrumental in our ongoing and future research projects that involve optimization of LNPs for enhanced and targeted delivery of various therapeutic nucleic acids to different types of cells and/or specific subcellular organelles for development of new gene therapies and vaccines.
We invite interested suppliers to provide information on their available systems, supporting documentation, technical specifications and provide any relevant product literature. This engagement is being undertaken through a document based information gathering exercise only; no meetings or presentations are planned at this stage.
Suppliers wishing to participate should outline the capabilities of the proposed system, key technical parameters, optional modules or configurations, and any additional information that would help us understand how the system could meet our requirements.
The deadline for providing this information is 18th December 2025. Following the review of the submissions, the University may undertake further engagement activities if required, or may use the documentation received to inform the future procurement approach. Participation in the process is voluntary, and suppliers will bear their own costs.
This engagement does not form part of any procurement process and does not commit the University to undertake a competitive process at a later date.
Please send responses to [email protected]
- Tender notice expected203 days ago1 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts143 days ago1 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 26 Nov 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published26 Nov 2025, 15:19 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published26 Nov 2025, 15:25 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Nov 2025, 14:32 GMTUK2
Published amendments (1)
edited to add contact details
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender