Department of Health and Social Care

39 Victoria Street

London

SW1H 0EU

UK

E-mail: procurement.operations@dhsc.gov.uk

NUTS: UKI32

Internet address(es)

Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care

Address of the buyer profile: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care

II.1.1) Title

II.1.2) Main CPV code

33124000

II.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

II.1.4) Short description

Provision of goods to support the UK Covid-19 testing strategy OptiGene are providing RT-LAMP machines and test kits to support the UK Covid-19 testing strategy and to enable mass testing for C-19 through rapid testing and to supplement diagnostics capacity.

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

II.1.7) Total value of the procurement

Value excluding VAT: 322 762 223.59  GBP

IV.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition

Justification for selected award procedure:

Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the Directive

Explanation

DHSC is satisfied the tests permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met.

A. As far as is strictly necessary: the Optigene machines and testing kits are strictly necessary to meet the demand to scale up the testing programme in the UK. It is critical to detect Covid-19 infection quickly and accurately to contain C-19 and support the population. There is evidence of increasing demand for RT-LAMP testing and limited supply of components resulting in long lead times for securing supplies.

B. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: It is responding to Covid-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency. The requirement for these machines and tests is a matter of extreme urgency in order to support the economy and population, including vital services such as education.

C. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: recent increases in infection and the need to introduce localised lockdowns and more stringent national restrictions has led to the need to introduce more widespread testing. There is a need to significantly increase testing capacity but also to introduce different testing solutions to ensure the existing supply chain is not compromised. Recent validation work has demonstrated that this solution is a credible technology — it would not have been possible to foresee the outcome of this validation work.

D. It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: it is not possible to comply with the timescales of another procedure due to the urgent requirement to ensure the delivery of the RT-LAMP machines and tests. Due to the urgency of the situation there was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation, particularly in light of the recent validation information and timelines to secure supply and scale up. Any delay in procuring would have led to a real risk that a competing purchaser would have secured them, leaving the Department without provision and undermining its ability to increase capacity.

E. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority — DHSC has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.

IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

OptiGene Ltd

06465874

Unit 5 Blatchford Road, West Sussex

Horsham

RH13 5QR

UK

E-mail: michael@optigene.co.uk

NUTS: UK

The contractor is an SME: Yes

VI.4.1) Review body