UK Research & Innovation: UKRI-1552 - HPM μ Live High-Pressure Freezer

UK-Swindon: Miscellaneous evaluation or testing instruments.

Section I: Contracting Authority

   I.1) Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
       UK Research & Innovation
       Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FL, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 1793442000, Email: stfcprocurement@ukri.org
       Contact: STFC Procurement
       Main Address: www.ukri.org
       NUTS Code: UKK14

   I.2) Joint procurement:
      The contract involves joint procurement: No          
      In the case of joint procurement involving different countries, state applicable national procurement law: Not Provided
      The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body: No

   I.4)Type of the contracting authority:
      Body governed by public law

   I.5) Main activity:
      Other activity: Research and Innovation

Section II: Object Of The Contract

   II.1) Scope of the procurement

      II.1.1) Title: UKRI-1552 - HPM μ Live High-Pressure Freezer            
      Reference number: UKRI-1552

      II.1.2) Main CPV code:
         38900000 - Miscellaneous evaluation or testing instruments.


      II.1.3) Type of contract: SUPPLIES

      II.1.4) Short description: This contract is for the supply of a HPM μ Live High-Pressure Freezer.

      II.1.6) Information about lots
         This contract is divided into lots: No
            
      II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
          Value: 297,820
                  
         Currency:GBP            

   II.2) Description

      II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s):
      Not Provided

      II.2.3) Place of performance
      Nuts code:
      UKJ14 - Oxfordshire
   
      Main site or place of performance:
      Oxfordshire
             

      II.2.4) Description of the procurement: This contract is for the supply of a HPM μ Live High-Pressure Freezer including delivery and installation at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

      II.2.5) Award criteria:
                  
      Price - Weighting: 10
            

      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
         

      II.2.14) Additional information: Not Provided


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 (please complete Annex D1)


   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
      The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No       
      

   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction
      An electronic auction has been used: No

   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
      The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No

IV.2) Administrative information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
       Not Provided
   

   IV.2.9) Information about termination of call for competition in the form of a prior information notice
      The contracting authority will not award any further contracts based on the above prior information notice: No

Section V: Award of contract

Award Of Contract (No.1)

   Contract No: Not Provided    
   Lot Number: Not Provided    
   Title: Not Provided

   A contract/lot is awarded: Yes


   V.2) Award of contract

      V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract: 10/08/2021

      V.2.2) Information about tenders
         Number of tenders received: 1
         Number of tenders received from SMEs: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received by electronic means: Not Provided

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor

      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
         
         Contractor (No.1)
             Labtech International Limited, 02779599
             Mytogen House, 11 Browning Road, Heathfield, TN21 8DB, United Kingdom
             NUTS Code: UKJ22
            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: Not Provided          
         Total value of the contract/lot: 297,820
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No
         
Section VI: Complementary information

   VI.3) Additional information: To view this notice, please click here:
https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=618244985

   VI.4) Procedures for review

      VI.4.1) Review body
          UK Research and Innovation
          Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FL, United Kingdom

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
         Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures: Not Provided

      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
         Not Provided

   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 12/08/2021




ANNEX D

   1. Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition in accordance with Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU

      No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to: Not Provided

      The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive (for supplies only): Yes       
      
      The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons

      Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive: No

      Additional deliveries by the original supplier ordered under the strict conditions stated in the directive: No

      
      
      Procurement of supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market: No

      Purchase of supplies or services on particularly advantageous terms: No


   3. Explanation
          HPM μ Live high-pressure freezer, manufactured by CryoCapCell, and distributed in the UK by Labtech International Ltd.

This instrument is required for a correlative microscopy development programme at the Central Laser Facility. A key requirement of this programme is a cryogenic sample prep method which enables the capture of highly dynamic events for the analysis of their detailed ultrastructure in cryo-EM methods. This would underpin several major projects for both in-house research and the user access programme.

The only High-Pressure Freezer that is capable of preparing samples this way is the HPM μ Live. CryoCapCell has patented under patent no. WO2020/035522 A1 a hydraulically controlled cryopreservation device with a pressure-raising system that is capable of rising the pressure up to 2000bars in 2 milliseconds (against at least 15 milliseconds for the competitors). This enables the system to freeze a sample in < 2 sec, which in turn allows the capture of dynamic events with their associated ultrastructure. Due to the patent, this is the only commercial solution capable of delivering our requirements.

The manufacturer (CryoCapCell) has an exclusive distribution agreement with Labtech International Ltd. Labtech is therefore the only legal distributor for this product in the UK.