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
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
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
Innovation — Samba II Covid-19 Testing Equipment and Consumables
II.1.2) Main CPV code
33124000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
Provision of goods (and ancillary services) to support the UK Covid-19 testing strategy. These test kits allow for field use in hospitals enabling the rapid on-site Point of Care (POC) testing for C-19 and have significant operational advantages over off-site laboratory testing as they allow for quick turnaround test results without the delay of sending them to laboratories.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
59 037 248.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
38500000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of goods (and ancillary services) to support the UK Covid-19 testing strategy. These test kits allow for field use in hospitals enabling the rapid on-site Point of Care (POC) testing for C-19 and have significant operational advantages over off-site laboratory testing as they allow for quick turnaround test results without the delay of sending them to laboratories.
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:
Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the Directive
Explanation
1) The Covid-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern 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.
2) DHSC needs to acquire these POC testing kits as a matter of extreme urgency to ensure adequate testing capacity is available. There is an urgent need for an immediate testing solution which allows medical practitioners to distinguish between whether a patient’s symptoms are being caused by common flu or Covid-19.
3) 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: these kits are critical to quickly and accurately (1) detect Covid-19 infection; and (2) distinguish between whether a patient’s symptoms are being caused by common flu or Covid-19, and therefore meet the demand to scale up the testing programme in the UK. The CE-marked SAMBA system is an easy to use, true Point-of-Care (= Sample-in, Results-out) diagnostic platform. Evidence exists of exceptionally high demand for these rapid POC Covid-19 test kits nationally and internationally and this demand far exceeds the limited supply. It is therefore essential that DHSC secures the available supply.
B. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: It is responding to Covid-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency.
C. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: the Commission itself confirmed: ‘The current coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency – precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.’ (Commissioner Breton, Internal Market, 1 April 2020).
D. It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: 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 that would allow DHSC to secure delivery, particularly in light of the corresponding delays to timelines associated with securing supply of the test kits. It is imperative that security of supply is maintained.
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. There is a worldwide shortage of these POC testing kits.
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
09/09/2020
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
Diagnostics for the Real World
05850389
Suite 12 Science Village Chesterford Research Park, Little Chesterford, Saffron Walden
Essex
CB10 1XL
UK
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
URL: https://drw-ltd.com/
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 59 037 248.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
Additional CPV Codes: 38540000 — Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring, 38900000 — Miscellaneous evaluation or testing instruments
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
The High Court
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
UK
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
06/10/2020