Official UK procurement notice
Provision of a Multiplex Fluorescence Scanner with quantitative pathology imaging and analysis
Authority: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAward to Akoya Biosciences for the purchase of a multiplex fluorescence slide scanner with quantitative pathology imaging and analysis to be used in the Research Department, Porton.
CPV: Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The provision of a Multiplex Fluorescence Scanner will enable UK HSA to produce…Awarded
The provision of a Multiplex Fluorescence Scanner will enable UK HSA to produce quantitative multiplex image analysis, with elements of the application of artificial intelligence in pathology (advance image analysis, such as tissue classification, phenotyping or pattern recognition) to be applied to ongoing and future research projects focusing on high priority activities including COVID19, Ebola, Zika, Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, Chikungunya, Zika virus infection, Q Fever, Anthrax, Tuberculosis, Monkeypox, Influenza, Pertussis, Meningococcal disease, Anti-Microbial Resistance, etc.<br/><br/>The Research team is responding to the COVID19 outbreak by delivering the pathology component of every pre-clinical experiment carried out at Porton, including vaccines and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. This work is supporting the UKHSA Infectious Disease Strategy, in the development of interventions against disease, and particularly at the moment support our strategy of being ready to respond to Pandemics as part of the current international global response.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Dec 2021, 19:24 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Dec 2021, 19:24 GMT
- FTS notice number
2021/S 000-030878- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-030015Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons
- Published justification
UK HSA is responding to the COVID19 outbreak by delivering the pathology component of every pre-clinical experiment carried out at PHE Porton, including vaccines and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. The proposed equipment will provide resilience, increased output and objective image analysis (high throughput) of multiple samples, increasing the power of special pathology techniques (FISH and fluorescence immunolabelling) to study the pathogenesis and immune responses in the animal studies of SRAS-CoV-2 infection, also applicable to all the other pathogens.<br/><br/>Akoya is the only provider of automated tools and algorithms for the determination of library spectra for the quantitative elimination of autofluorescence and the determination of pure biomarker spectra from unmixed spectra taken from tissue specimens.<br/><br/>The Vectra Polaris Automated Quantitative Pathology Imaging System will digitalise multiplex-stained slides increasing resilience as it would be able to scan conventional brightfield stained slides (in case our current histology scanner is out of order for any reason) and will be able to produce digital H&E e-slides from fluorescence-stained slides, reducing the workload in the laboratory. At present, PHE does not have the capacity or resources of reading and scanning multiplex-stained slides and need to produce single-stained slide for a variety of markers with a considerable amount of time and resources associated.<br/><br/>The technology within Polaris as well as some of the proprietary software that runs it was all developed in house and patented. Its unique capabilities via the multispectral technology set the Polaris apart for quantitative biomarker analysis and detailed phenotyping of researchers tissue samples.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akoya Biosciences, Inc | — | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 030878-2021-1 · Akoya Biosciences, Inc
- Signed
- 10 Dec 2021
- Value
- —
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | £425,000 – £425,000 |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High Court and Court of Appeal of England and WalesReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Akoya Biosciences Inc.Awarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.