Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2020-08-10
Buyer: Department of Health and Social Care
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 38434500 | 38434540
Estimated value: 6421100 GBP

Technical requirements: DHSC is intending to award a contract for up to 3 months with a potential 3-month extension to LGC Genomics Ltd for the provision of high throughput end point PCR lab equipment with the potential use for the diagnosis of SARSCOV-2 virus. This contract provides for the delivery by LGC, by the end of October 2020, of two Nexar based workflows.
DHSC is intending to award a contract for up to 3 months with a potential 3-month extension to LGC Genomics Ltd for the provision of high throughput end point PCR lab equipment with the potential use for the diagnosis of SARSCOV-2 virus. This contract provides for the delivery by LGC, by the end of October 2020, of two Nexar based workflows. LGC will supply an end point PCR workflow capable of processing up to 150 000 SARS CoV-2 samples per day. LGC will create the workflow, incorporating an automated Nexar platform and related equipment at the Lighthouse Lab site in Milton Keynes. The workflow will be set up to determine whether the workflow can establish the presence or absence of SARSCoV-2 via end point PCR from saliva or swab samples at ultra-high throughput scale and the intention is that LGC will secure CE IVD marking for the instruments. A second Nexar workflow will be set up on the same site to act as a development system for future research, tests and study and provide resilience. DHSC has identified that the Nexar platform and related equipment is the only workflow currently available with the immediate potential to meet DHSC's pressing need for the ultra-high throughput of swab or saliva samples on a single platform. The parties have entered into a Letter of Intent in advance of entering into the contract which is purely incidental in order to facilitate the ordering of various equipment in order to meet DHSC’s SARSCOV-2 Testing Programme as set out above. Should the parties be unable to proceed with the award of the contract, then the Letter of Intent shall terminate and DHSC shall reimburse LGC for the irrecoverable costs of the ordered items.
DHSC is intending to award the contract to LGC using the negotiated procedure without prior publication, pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. DHSC considers that the required deliverables can be supplied only by LGC because competition is absent for technical reasons, no reasonable alternative or substitute exists and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement. In particular, DHSC considers that there are no other suppliers in the market who are able to offer equipment with the potential to achieve the ultra-high levels of testing offered by LGC's Nexar instruments. DHSC is therefore proposing to proceed with the award of the contract to LGC for the supply of the Nexar machines for the purposes of running a development project over a period of 3 months to demonstrate the accuracy and sensitivity of the end point PCR tests in an ultra-high throughput method. The parties have entered into a letter of intent in advance of entering into the contract which is purely incidental and in order to facilitate the ordering of various equipment in order to meet DHSC’s SARSCOV-2 Testing Programme in the short term. Should the parties be unable to proceed with the award of the contract (which for the avoidance of doubt may include a challenge to the award of the contract), then the letter of intent shall terminate immediately and DHSC shall reimburse LGC for the irrecoverable costs of the ordered items.
The implementation of the LGC workflows requires the use of automated outcome diagnosis software to determine whether a sample is positive of negative for SARS CoV-2. Under its contract with the SoS, LGC is responsible for providing the necessary software required for the evaluation and operation of the workflow.
Any review proceedings will be dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (‘PCR 2015’). Any review proceedings must be brought within the timescales specified by the applicable law.


Winner: LGC Genomics Ltd
Award value: 6421100