Official UK procurement notice
Supply of BVD-free Foetal Bovine Serum to APHA
Authority: Defra Network eTendering Portal
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis is a voluntary ex ante transparency (VEAT) notice, indicating that Defra (on behalf of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)) intends to enter into a contract with VWR International Ltd to purchase a 300-litre batch (600 x 500ml) of gamma irradiated, frozen, sterile, PCR-tested Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) free, filtered Seradigm Ultimate Grade Foetal Bovine Serum (FBS). <br/><br/>Defra intends to award a contract to VWR International Ltd following the expiry of a voluntary standstill period, 10 days from the date of publication of this notice.
CPV: Laboratory reagents
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality: 100
- Cost: 0
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 20 Nov 2023, 09:44 GMT
- Last source update
- 20 Nov 2023, 09:44 GMT
- Authority reference
C21855- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-034202- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-041b1bFind 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
Based on the information detailed below, the conclusion would be that VWR is the only supplier able to provide this superior quality-certified product, in the required quantity, to APHA at this time.<br/><br/>Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) is endemic in cattle globally, therefore it is extremely challenging to identify a source that is 100% free of the virus (i.e., most cattle herds are at risk of infection). The vast majority of the FBS produced world-wide will contain traces of BVD but for most laboratories this is not a problem (as it does not interfere with use for the serum). However, due to the unique nature of APHA’s work, diagnostic testing and research on BVD would be compromised if there was BVD (virus and antibodies) in the FBS product. The Defra veterinary pathway plans pledge to tackle BVD which costs UK industry between £14 to 36 million per year. To fulfil this objective, APHA must maintain testing capability of the highest quality in order to produce accurate disease management statistics to underpin this objective.<br/><br/>
- APHA conducted comprehensive in-house sample testing several years ago due to repeated quality issues with previous FBS batches (documented as BVD-free but subsequently found to contain small traces). Only one (1) supplier (VWR) met all the required criteria (including BVD-free and sourced from an approved USDA country which has no history of BSE).<br/>
- APHA requires the FBS from the same supplier (as the previous batch) because they have ongoing confidence in their ability to supply APHA with a high-quality standard reagent (FBS) that will not compromise onward testing capability.<br/>
- Based on APHA’s extensive experience, due to the superior quality standards and the high volume of product required it is highly unlikely that another supplier would be able to meet this requirement at this time.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| VWR International Ltd | £284,400 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 034202-2023-1 · VWR International Ltd
- Signed
- 13 Nov 2023
- Value
- £284,400
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Public Procurement Review BodyMediation body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- VWR International LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.