Official UK procurement notice
PCR Sample Collection Kit Request for Information (RFI)
Authority: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of this document is to enhance the Authority's understanding of the marketplace and its options for sourcing for a potential future requirement.
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.
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.
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 PCR sample collection kits as a critical tool in protecting public health, providing support in outbreak investigations and control measures for a range of pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 and H1N2
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 identify a suitable standard VTM self-collection PCR sample collection kit that could either be procured for central stockpile or acquired at the point of need.
The UKHSA requires a UKCA/CE approved self-collection PCR sample collection kit that is easy to access, simple and intuitive to be used by the UK public (with no required specialist training and with minimal technical jargon).
In addition, UKHSA is also seeking to understand the availability of turnkey services that could support the PCR product and inform our choice of delivery model
Should you wish to respond to this Request for Information, please complete the response questionnaire which is found at the following link: atamis-1928.my.salesforce-sites.com/ProSpend__CS_Contrac… ↗
CPV: Diagnostic kits · Manual swab test kits · Medical consumables · Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Past planning notice
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 22 Aug 2025, 15:16 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Aug 2025, 15:24 BST
- Authority reference
C385192- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-050961- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-058d05Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
22 Aug 2025 → 31 Jan 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published22 Aug 2025, 15:16 BST
- Market engagement15 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
Request for information
- Contract starts269 days ago31 Jan 2026
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 Aug 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Aug 2025, 15:16 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Aug 2025, 15:24 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
Correct description
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender