Lateral Flow Devices (LFDs) - Request for Information (RFI)

Descriptions

Instructions:

1. The purpose of this document is to enhance the Authority's understanding of the marketplace and its options for sourcing for a potential future requirement.

2. The issuance of this request for information (RFI) does not constitute a sourcing exercise nor will the Authority pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a response to this RFI.

3. The UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) key objectives for this RFI are:

a. understand the ability of the marketplace to fulfil its requirements;

b. refine the scope of the requirements to best align to the marketplace; and

c. inform the Authority's chosen route to market to best enable competition

4. Should you have any questions or queries relating to this RFI, please use the Atamis portal's messaging centre to direct your questions to us for a response.

5. If a response is not received by the RFI response deadline this will have no impact on your ability to tender for the opportunity in the future. UKHSA will not enter into contracts on the basis of replies to this RFI.  

| Description of Scope of Requirements:

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is responsible for protecting every member of every community from the impact of infectious diseases, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents and other health threats. We provide intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage, to make the nation's health secure.

UKHSA uses Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits as a critical tool in protecting public health, providing support in outbreak investigations and control measures for SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A&B.

To provide greater resilience and flexibility across use cases as part of UKHSAs Pandemic Preparedness strategy and support the UK's contribution to the 100 Days Mission - GOV.UK, which targets deployment of diagnostics within 100 days of identifying a new pandemic threat, it would be beneficial to evaluate the variety of LFD test kits currently on the market and establish the range of respiratory pathogens that can be identified by multiplex LFD kits.

The UKHSA requires a UKCA/CE marked self-test respiratory LFD which as a minimum can detect SARS-CoV-2 and Flu A/ B (including H5N1). The product will need to be evaluated for its performance at Porton Down and will also need to pass relevant QC/QA checks.

UKHSA also intends to publish a further request for information, focusing on on-shoring, supply chain resilience, and future product development for LFDs. Additional details will be made available in due course

Should you wish to respond to this Request for Information, please complete the response questionnaire which is found at the following link: https://atamis-1928.my.salesforce-sites.com/ProSpend__CS_ContractPage?SearchType=Projects&uid=a07Sr00000eYMPrIAO&searchStr=&sortStr=Recently+Published&page=1&filters=&County=