---
title: "Supply of Foetal Bovine Serum"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-042a91"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-042a91"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-042a91.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-042a91.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL"
published: "2024-01-03"
---

# Supply of Foetal Bovine Serum

Buyer: DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-042a91

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## Summary

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has awarded a contract for the supply of Foetal Bovine Serum through a limited procurement process without prior publication of a call for competition. The contract was signed on 21st December 2023, and the buying organization is the Defra Network eTendering Portal. The procurement falls under the goods category, specifically laboratory reagents, with a focus on delivering to APHA premises in Addlestone, UK.

This tender presents an opportunity for businesses specializing in providing high-quality laboratory reagents to compete for contracts with APHA. Given the unique requirements for Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) free, filtered Foetal Bovine Serum, businesses with a proven track record in supplying certified products to strict quality standards would be well-suited. APHA's emphasis on maintaining top-tier testing capability and their confidence in the awarded supplier, VWR International Ltd, indicates a preference for suppliers able to consistently meet stringent quality criteria in a time-sensitive and high-volume context.

## Notice

Supply of gamma irradiated, frozen, sterile, PCR-tested Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) free, filtered Seradigm Ultimate Grade Foetal Bovine Serum (FBS) to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Defra (on behalf of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)) has entered into a contract with VWR International Ltd to purchase a batch of gamma irradiated, frozen, sterile, PCR-tested Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) free, filtered Seradigm Ultimate Grade Foetal Bovine Serum (FBS).

### Procurement Information

Based on the information detailed below, and publication of a VEAT Notice on 20/11/2023, it was concluded that VWR is the only supplier able to provide this superior quality-certified product, in the required quantity, to APHA at this time.

Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) is endemic in cattle globally, therefore it is extremely challenging to identify a source that is 100% free of the virus (i.e., most cattle herds are at risk of infection). The vast majority of the FBS produced world-wide will contain traces of BVD but for most laboratories this is not a problem (as it does not interfere with use for the serum). However, due to the unique nature of APHA's work, diagnostic testing and research on BVD would be compromised if there was BVD (virus and antibodies) in the FBS product. The Defra veterinary pathway plans pledge to tackle BVD which costs UK industry between PS14 to 36 million per year. To fulfil this objective, APHA must maintain testing capability of the highest quality in order to produce accurate disease management statistics to underpin this objective.

* APHA previously conducted comprehensive in-house sample testing due to repeated quality issues with previous FBS batches (documented as BVD-free but subsequently found to contain small traces). Only one (1) supplier (VWR) met all the required criteria (including BVD-free and sourced from an approved USDA country which has no history of BSE).

* APHA require the FBS from the same supplier (as the previous batch) because they have ongoing confidence in their ability to supply APHA with a high-quality standard reagent (FBS) that will not compromise onward testing capability.

* Based on APHA's extensive experience, due to the superior quality standards and the high volume of product required it is highly unlikely that another supplier would be able to meet this requirement at this time.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000160-2024 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 3 Jan 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 21 Dec 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £284,400 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 4DF |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | VWR INTERNATIONAL |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 33 - Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products

### Codes

- 33696500 - Laboratory reagents

## Release History

- 3 Jan 2024 at 16:25 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000160-2024

## Notice URLs

- http://uk.vwr.com
- https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-procurement-review-service-scope-and-remit

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-042a91. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-042a91.json.