Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
UK
Telephone: +44 2072104850
E-mail: Procurement.operations@dhsc.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
Health
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Hologic Ltd — UK Covid-19 Testing Services and Goods
II.1.2) Main CPV code
33124130
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
Provision of goods and services to support the UK Covid-19 testing strategy.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
151 219 209.60
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Through this contract, Hologic Ltd will use its proprietary technology and expertise to supply tests, controls, associated consumables and training and support services required to perform SARS-Cov-2 tests, each month, to laboratories across different locations in the UK.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights
Explanation
Direct award due to absence of competition or protection of exclusive rights
The Government must protect the health and well-being of UK citizens. The Covid-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
A key element of ensuring an effective response to the pandemic is ensuring that there are sufficient NHS key workers available to deliver frontline NHS services. Public Health England guidance (based on expert medical opinion) states that if an individual has Covid-19 they must self-isolate for seven days; or if a member of their household has Covid-19 they must self-isolate for 14 days. In practice, these rules means that on a day-to-day basis, many frontline staff, including in the NHS and carers, are unable to work due to needing to self-isolate – despite the possibility that they are not infected with Covid-19. This is why on 27 March 2020 the Government announced major plans to rapidly expand the volume of Covid-19 testing available for NHS and other Key Workers outside of the NHS system – with the aim of getting as many non-infected staff back to work as soon as they are able. A key element of these plans is testing of Key Workers in the first instance before rolling out more widely. Covid-19 is serious and its consequences pose a risk to life.
Cabinet Office published PPN 01/20: Responding to Covid-19 on procuring with extreme urgency which states that contracting authorities may enter into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement where certain tests apply including the use of Direct award due to absence of competition or protection of exclusive rights.
Regulation 32(2) of the PCRs sets out that the negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used: (b) where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons: ... (iii) the protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights, ... but only where 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 this circumstance, DHSC are awarding under regulation 32(2)(b)(iii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) – for the protection of exclusive rights as Hologic Ltd currently possesses certain exclusive rights and know-how to the technology and platforms, capacity and expertise required to conduct tests on pre-existing platforms required to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. There is currently no reasonable alternative or substitute available; and this result has not been achieved by artificially narrowing down the scope of the nature of tests required.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
24/04/2020
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Hologic Ltd
Heron House, Oaks Business Park, Crewe Road, Wythenshawe, Manchester M23 9HZ
UK
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 151 219 209.60
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
The contract commences on 1 June 2020 and will close on 28 February 2021, subject to the right of the authority to extend until 31 May 2021.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
07/05/2020