BSVI (BaseSpace Variant Interpreter)

Concepts

• software package
• software license subscription
• basespace variant interpreter
• bsvi
• software
• information systems
• information technology

Location

London:

Description

Software as a service including development

Total Quantity or Scope

Software license subscription and services provided via the BSVI

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 48000000 - Software package and information systems
• 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Legal Justification

Under a contract dated 9 February 2016 between Genomic England Limited (GEL) and Illumina Cambridge Limited (“Illumina”), the parties co-developed a product for GEL being the Base Space Variant Interpreter (“BSVI”) which is not otherwise available on the market. Under the terms of that agreement Illumina retained certain intellectual property rights in the product, while the cost of the product to GEL reflected GEL’s role in co-development. It should be noted therefore that BSVI is a very bespoke product provided by Illumina to Genomics England alone and Illumina will retire the product once GEL no longer has a need for it. The original agreement expired in March 21. In November 2019 Genomics England separately signed a contract with Illumina for the provision of sequencing and related services to support the soon to be implemented NHS Genomic Medicine Service (“GMS”) (“Sequencing Contract”) which is due to expire on 31 October 2025. In March 2021 Genomics England varied the Sequencing Contract to include the provision of the BSVI product as part of its scope for a period of 18 months. Genomics England has on 6 November 2022 entered into a further amendment to the Sequencing Contract under which BSVI will be provided until expiry of the contract or until such earlier time as GEL confirms its long term strategy for securing decision support for cancer for the GMS with its partner, NHS England and procures an alternative or updated solution to meet the new strategy requirements. We expect this to be for a period between 12 and 24 months. Genomics England takes the view that Regulation 72 (1) (b) applies to the variation to the Sequencing Contract because additional services from Illumina have become necessary but were not included in the original procurement of this contract but a change of contractor cannot be made at this time due to the bespoke technical specification of the product and it would also cause significant duplication of cost for GEL. The value of the variation is under 50% of the value of the Sequencing Contract. NHS England has confirmed that a functioning decision support system for cancer is essential to the success of the GMS for cancer and no hiatus in these services is possible. Genomics England has very specific requirements for decision support as any product needs to fit in with its internal National Genomics Informatics System pipeline and no off the shelf product is available or viable without significant development. Given the background to BSVI development, an immediate termination would not only have led to a hiatus in service but would cause substantial inconvenience and duplication of costs should a new decision support provider be brought in. A new procurement will require preparation and proper planning to meet the future objectives of the service yet to be agreed with NHS England. In the event that this were to be considered a new contract award, we consider that Regulation 32 (2) (b) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 would apply in any event for the same reasons. There is no other product available in the market to meet the immediate need and requirements and Illumina holds the IP rights to the product. Any supplier would need to substantially develop its standard product to fit Genomics England’s needs. This would include customising release cycles to fit the needs of the NHS. BSVI is a very specific product developed for a single customer. For this reason, there is no genuine competition for the BSVI product on the market today and time will be required for GEL to plan for its ultimate replacement.

Other Information

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