NHS awards cytogenetics tender
5 Feb 2014
Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) this week announced that it was the recipient of a cytogenetics tender from the UK National Health Service (NHS).
Initially, a number of Trust laboratories submitted a variety of samples for processing in order to assess the quality of their products and potentially claim the tender.
The process was conducted over a nine month period and concluded towards the end of 2013.
“During this time, each supplier who entered the was rigorously assessed for the quality of their array products, reagents, software and support,” OGT executive vice president commercial James Clough told Laboratorytalk.
Having correctly identified all the genetic abnormalities tested, OGT was chosen to supply oligo-based arrays for cytogenetics to the NHS - which considered both quality and economic viability as part of its testing criteria.
“An exhaustive procurement and evaluation process was employed as, while we want to identify the most financially viable option, we can’t afford to compromise on quality,” said Chris Wragg head of molecular cytogenetics at the Bristol Genetics Laboratory and lead on the tender evaluation process.
In addition to robust sampling analysis, detailed software demonstrations were provided to ensure the chosen platform met the needs of a modern NHS cytogenetics research laboratory.
Under terms of the agreement, OGT will supply a consortium of four UK NHS Genetics Labs (Bristol, Manchester, Salisbury and Sheffield) with its technology via an agreed supply framework.
An additional eight labs (Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Great Ormond Street, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham and Oxford), have the option to join the agreed array supply framework which would allow them to receive the same benefits as the Genetics Labs consortium.
