Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
University of Aberdeen
University Office, King's College
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX
UK
E-mail: e-sourcing@abdn.ac.uk
NUTS: UKM50
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/procurement
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00102
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Education
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Award of contract for spatial sequencing platform - University of Aberdeen
Reference number: AU23/28
II.1.2) Main CPV code
38540000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
Award of contract for Spatial Sequencing Platform without prior call for competition.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
610 839.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
38540000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM50
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Award of contract for spatial sequencing equipment without seeking offers through a formal procurement procedure as competition is absent for technical reasons. Under clause 33 (1)(b)(ii) of the legislation, a contracting authority may award a contract without competition (only where no reasonable alternative or substitute exists, and the absence of competition is not the result of artificial narrowing down of parameters of the procurement). In this case, the grounds for not exposing to competition are as follows:
The equipment provided by the supplier is the only one which can meet the research requirements and is the only instrument on the market capable of:
Spatially resolving both protein and RNA targets, in FFPE and Fresh Frozen tissues, and using the same chemistry and workflow (in-situ, oligo-barcodes which are photocleaved from the target transcript).
Capacity to perform the above in a manner non-destructive to the tissue, enabling the use of precious samples for follow-on experiments.
Capacity work with Tissue Microarray (TMA) Format which is required for a pilot study to spatially profile distinct tissue regions (GFAP, NeuN, Iba1) from 96 patient brain tissues on just one slide.
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: absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation
Award of contract without seeking offers through a formal procurement procedure as competition is absent for technical reasons. Under clause 33 (1)(b)(ii) of the legislation, a contracting authority may award a contract without competition (only where no reasonable alternative or substitute exists, and the absence of competition is not the result of artificial narrowing down of parameters of the procurement).In this case, the grounds for not exposing to competition are as follows:
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: AU23/28
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
18/09/2023
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
NanoString Technologies
11th Floor Whitefriars, Lewins Mead
Bristol
BS1 2NT
UK
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 610 839.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
(SC Ref:745022)
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Aberdeen Sheriff Court
Aberdeen
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
18/09/2023