Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
Contact
Vinit Goswami
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKI32 - Westminster
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
Buyer's address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Health
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Provision of RT-qPCR Results Analysis Software Solution
Reference number
C23543
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72260000 - Software-related services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Authority has a requirement to procure an RT-qPCR Results Analysis software solution for use by a number of the Lighthouse Laboratories undertaking Covid-19 testing.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £8,100,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - UNITED KINGDOM
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Authority has a requirement to procure an RT-qPCR Results Analysis software solution for use by a number of the Lighthouse Laboratories undertaking Covid-19 testing. The existing contract is nearing expiration and there is a requirement for the service to be re-procured.The contract will be tendered via an open tender procedure with planned service go-live by July 2021 for a contract period of up to 36 months – an initial 12 months plus optional two 1-year extensions. The requirement is for a software service that conducts interpretative medical diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 virus (Covid-19) tests, controls elements of workflow of the RT-qPCR instruments and issues high volume results outputs from the RT-qPCR instruments. The software service will cover the use of the RT-qPCR machines already procured by the Customer located at the United Kingdom’s Lighthouse Laboratories.The software will need to meet relevant UK laboratory standards. This will include but not be limited to: ISO 15189, ISO 27001. The Results Analysis software must have the capability to receive, store and analyse instrumentation outputs from various RT-qPCR platforms including, but not limited to• 7500 Fast Systems • QuantStudio™ 12K Flex• QuantStudio™ 7 FlexThese include instrument reporting measures for diagnostic process quality control, RT-qPCR assay readouts from the aforementioned systems and diagnostic result determination specific to the RT-qPCR results.Results will be output to the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) at each of the Lighthouse Laboratories (currently subject of a separate procurement).The software must be designed for high availability and resilience to hardware, software and network failure. Laboratory maximum capacity for RT-PCR will be in the range 75,000-100,000 samples tested per day per laboratory, with actual throughput dependent on the number of subjects being tested in the population. Capacity varies significantly across the different labs. Actual requirements will depend on then current SARS-CoV-2 virus (Covid-19) testing requirement, and will depend on overall infection levels and other factorsThe software supplier will include an installation and integration service, a support service, training for users and administrators of the service. The system will include a capability to output reports for the production of management information.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
1 March 2021
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Please complete the attached Expression of Interest (EOI) by registering on our e-sourcing portal, completing the answers to the below questions and returning it to us, via the portal no later than 16-03-2021.Estimated date of publication of contract notice: 22 March 2021The publication of this prior information notice is for a) notifying the market about this upcoming procurement and b) notifying the market about the early drafts of some of the tender documents including proposed terms and conditions & high-level evaluation criteria. Whilst the Authorities expects to proceed to procurement in due course, there is no obligation to do so as a consequence of this early notification.The publication of any documents at this stage is intended to provide potential bidders with the opportunity to view and comments. The Authority does not intend to be bound by any information at this stage. The Authority makes no commitment to incorporate any recommendations or suggestions within the final suite of procurement documents. Once published, the ITT will contain the final requirements in relation to this procurement. All previous versions, including any documents published at this stage should then be disregarded.