Official UK procurement notice
PF-07321332 Supply Agreement for Pandemic Purposes
Authority: Department of Health & Social Care (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionVaccines have been shown to be highly effective in the fight against COVID-19, to date. However, there is a cohort of individuals who either cannot take the vaccine or for whom it is ineffective. There is therefore an urgent need to find an effective alternative. So far there are no primary care antiviral drugs that can be easily dispensed specifically to treat SARS-CoV-2 and prevent its transmission in the community.This agreement is for the procurement of 250,000 units of PF-07321332/ritonavir . It is one of the first oral and direct-acting antiviral drugs globally and is part of the UK’s multi-layered approach to COVID-19.
CPV: Pharmaceutical products
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Procurement of PF-07321332/ritonavirAwarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 17 Nov 2021, 18:41 GMT
- Last source update
- 17 Nov 2021, 18:41 GMT
- Authority reference
C51900- FTS notice number
2021/S 000-028748- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02f7bbFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons; Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
Regulation 32(2)(c)The procurement was initiated on the basis that Regulation 32(2)(c) was applicable. In April 2021, the Antivirals Task Force (ATF) was established as it was recognised there was an urgent to find alternative novel anti-viral treatments. As far as is strictly necessary: The use of antivirals was identified as strictly necessary for the cohort of individuals for whom a vaccine is not an option. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: The procurement of antivirals aims to protect vulnerable cohorts of the population. This risk of public health presents a genuine emergency.The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: There are many aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have been entirely unforeseeable. DHSC is acting on the newest information it has available to tailor its COVID-19 response accordingly. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority: The situation of extreme urgency is not attributable to DHSC.It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: When the need for antivirals was urgently identified in April 2021, DHSC conducted a comprehensive market review. The result of this exercise was that it became clear that a procurement exercise could not be run due to the absence of competition. If the ATF were to run a procurement process now, it would worsen DHSC’s position.Regulation 32 (2) (b) (ii)In the course of this procurement, it has become clear to DHSC that Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) is applicable. The antivirals market is inverted, with an imbalance between demand and supply and limited worldwide supply capacity. This means there will be a finite supply of antivirals available in 2021/22: to date only two antivirals have received or have the potential to gain MHRA approval for Autumn/Winter 2021.Looking forward, DHSC is expected to publish a Prior Information Notice (PIN) in November in respect of its likely further portfolio requirements with a view to running future open procurement exercises where possible. Please see Contracts Finder Notice for full justification.
Publisher note: Information on contract value is being withheld due to commercial sensitivity under Regulation 50(6)(b) and (c) as the publication of the price may enable competitors to calculate cost per dose. This will (i) commercially prejudice the supplier in its ongoing negotiations with other national governments; (ii) commercially prejudice the contracting authority in its ongoing negotiations with other vendors and (iii) impact fair competition between vendors.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pfizer Ltd | — | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 028748-2021-1 · Pfizer Ltd
- Signed
- 18 Oct 2021
- Value
- —
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids · 0 electronic | 0 | — | US$1 – US$1 |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The High CourtReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Pfizer LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.