ETENDERS

Contract award notice

Information

Published

Date of dispatch of this notice: 09/12/2020

External Reference: 2020-207468

TED Reference: 2020/S 243-602488

Contract award notice

Contract award notice

Results of the procurement procedure

Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)

Name and addresses

Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin
2200007u
College Green
Dublin 2
Co. Dublin
IE
Contact person: Kevin Ryan
Telephone: +353 18962376
E-mail: ryank8@tcd.ie
Internet address(es):
Main address: http://www.tcd.ie
Address of the buyer profile: https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Company/CompanyInformation/Index/336

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

Antibody testing of human plasma samples using VirScan Technology
Reference number:  TCD_20_C0394
II.1.2)

Main CPV code

85111810  -  Blood analysis services
II.1.3)

Type of contract

Services
II.1.4)

Short description

This Voluntary ex ante transparency (VEAT) notice acknowledges that Trinity College Dublin proposes to issue a contract to CDI Laboratories. This will activate laboratory based analysis services using the proprietary VirScan™ technology. The VirScan™ technology offers unique sample throughput capability and is critical to the objectives of the research programme funded by SFI at Trinity College Dublin.
II.1.6)

Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7)

Total value of the procurement

Value excluding VAT:  230000.00  EUR
II.2)

Description

II.2.2)

Additional CPV code(s)

33696200  -  Blood-testing reagents
71600000  -  Technical testing, analysis and consultancy services
73111000  -  Research laboratory services
II.2.4)

Description of the procurement

Researchers at the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI) are assessing risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 in older adults using samples from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). The VirScan™ assay will allow us to determine levels of antibodies against all known human viruses in a subset of TILDA participants. This viral history data will be used to assess risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.
The ANTYGEN VirScan service provides a unique way to assay a patient’s viral history by analyzing antiviral antibodies to a phage library displaying peptides from 206 species and over 1000 strains of viruses. Typically, such tests measure only one virus at a time. Using a synthetic representation of all human viral peptides, this blood test identifies antibodies against all known human viruses. No other known product can achieve this level of detection in a single blood sample. To achieve the same amount of data, more patient sample would be required in order to run multiple single-assay tests, which would likely exceed the amount of participant plasma that we have available. Additional cost, time, and staff workload would be required if results were collected by those other ‘traditional’ methods. In reagents alone, a PCR test can cost thousands of dollars per molecule of study, which would limit our choice of targets compared to the VirScan™ comprehensive assay.
The VirScan™ technique was developed by Prof. Steve Elledge’s Harvard laboratory and they licensed CDI to market the commercial application of his research. Only CDI Laboratories can provide this service. Prof. H Benjamin Larman is a co-inventor and is on CDI Laboratories scientific advisory panel. CDI Laboratories will accept human patient plasma samples from the TILDA study. CDI labs will process Trinity samples using their proprietary VirScan™ procedure which identifies every virus annotated to have human tropism in the UniProt database. [https://cdi.bio/antygen-virscanphip-seq-service/] This service includes: VirScan Analysis (>1000 individual strains across 206 unique viral species with known human tropism) of 700 serum samples.
II.2.5)

Award criteria

Criteria below
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 in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below
  • 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
In accordance with Article 32(2)b of Directive 2014/24/EU. Specifically, competition is absent for technical reasons as the VirScan™ technology offers unique features that are fundamental to the feasibility of the research programme). Virscan™ is a proprietary technology held by CDI Laboratories. It is noted that the length of the contract will not exceed 3 years. The required licensing and support of the Virscan™ product can only be provided by CDI Laboratories due to the supplier’s exclusive rights in providing the services that will be accessed by Trinity College Dublin. The VirScan™ technique was developed by Prof. Steve Elledge’s Harvard laboratory and they licensed CDI to market the commercial application of his research. Only CDI Laboratories can provide this service. Prof. H Benjamin Larman is a co-inventor and is on CDI Laboratories scientific advisory panel. CDI Laboratories will accept human patient plasma samples from the TILDA study. CDI labs will process Trinity samples using their proprietary VirScan™ procedure which identifies every virus annotated to have human tropism in the UniProt database. [https://cdi.bio/antygen-virscanphip-seq-service/] This service includes: VirScan Analysis (>1000 individual strains across 206 unique viral species with known human tropism) of 700 serum samples.
IV.1.8)

Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement : yes
IV.2)

Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract

Contract No: 1

Title: Antibody testing of human plasma samples using VirScan Technology

A contract/lot is awarded: yes
V.2)

Award of contract

V.2.1)

Date of conclusion of the contract

09/12/2020
V.2.2)

Information about tenders

Number of tenders received:  1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators :  no
V.2.3)

Name and address of the contractor

CDI Laboratories
855 N. Wolfe St., Suite 603
Baltimore
MD 21205
US

The contractor is an SME : no
V.2.4)

Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)

Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot:  230000.00  EUR
Total value of the contract/lot:  230000.00  EUR

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.4)

Procedures for review

VI.4.1)

Review body

High Court
Four Courts, Inns Quay,
Dublin
Dublin 7
IE