UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) is a national facility for collaborative R&D exploring and developing new approaches to the discovery and proof of well targeted medicines, diagnostics and biomarkers. Funded by Innovate UK, an agency of the UK government, MDC are an independent not-for-profit company bringing together a fragmented UK sector of industry, academia, charities, technologists, services, finance companies, SMEs and start-ups who together can turn good science into new, high value products. By sharing problems, rare expertise and assets we support the growth of this new community through a time of radical business and national change. MDC requires a robust Electronic Quality Management System (eQMS) to support business growth and new projects involving clinical samples. The new eQMS is required to provide full traceability for all activities pertaining to clinical samples, whilst also supporting MDC's operations at large. Further information can be found at https://procontract.due-north.com/RFx/RFxSummary?rfxId=532e9bbc-1846-ed11-811a-005056b64545&projectId=482d48e6-1046-ed11-811a-005056b64545

The Advanced Technologies team at the Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) is looking to expand its current advanced microscopy facility to support both our own growing needs and provide the UK SME community access to advanced molecular and cellular imaging. MDC is aiming purchase a confocal High Content Screening (HCS) instrument based on an automated well-plate inverted microscope, together with confocal and widefield functionalities. It is crucial for the HCS system to be flexible and provide fast and high-resolution imaging of a wide range of experiments. The instrument should be configured to enable the use of different sample formats (2D and 3D cell models, tissue sections, fixed and live-cell) and experimental types (drug dose responses, live-cell kinetic studies, phenotypic screening, RNA scope), using a large variety of well-plate formats and a wide range of fluorophores. In addition, the HCS instrument must be supplied with a high-end solution for high content image analysis, visualization and handling. For more information, please follow this link - https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=3e1c3152-f658-ed11-811b-9f38301b3091

The Advanced Technologies team at the Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) is looking to expand its current advanced microscopy facility to support both our own growing needs and provide the UK SME community access to advanced molecular and cellular imaging. MDC is aiming purchase a confocal High Content Screening (HCS) instrument based on an automated well-plate inverted microscope, together with confocal and widefield functionalities. It is crucial for the HCS system to be flexible and provide fast and high-resolution imaging of a wide range of experiments. The instrument should be configured to enable the use of different sample formats (2D and 3D cell models, tissue sections, fixed and live-cell) and experimental types (drug dose responses, live-cell kinetic studies, phenotypic screening, RNA scope), using a large variety of well-plate formats and a wide range of fluorophores. In addition, the HCS instrument must be supplied with a high-end solution for high content image analysis, visualization and handling.

Research data is the primary deliverable of the MDC and it is essential to have an evident and secure way of its documentation. The data will be used to advance internal capability-build and external fee-for-service research projects from a diverse set of scientific technologies, including Mass Spectrometry, Imaging, In-vivo Imaging, Complex Cells, Biomarker and Target Engagement & Validation studies. Consistent with MDC's vision of collaborative working, the platform must enable seamless data sharing for internal and external projects with scientists and institutions. The software's main task is to document research data and to provide evidence of Good Laboratory Practice as well as improving lab productivity and efficiency, by keeping track of data associated with samples, experiments, laboratory workflows, and instruments. MDC now requires a robust LIMS with full traceability traceability to ensure that quality is maintained and to readily demonstrate the integrity of work involving clinical samples.

Research data is the primary deliverable of the MDC and it is essential to have an evident and secure way of its documentation. The data will be used to advance internal capability-build and external fee-for-service research projects from a diverse set of scientific technologies, including Mass Spectrometry, Imaging, In-vivo Imaging, Complex Cells, Biomarker and Target Engagement & Validation studies. Consistent with MDC's vision of collaborative working, the platform must enable seamless data sharing for internal and external projects with scientists and institutions. The software's main task is to document research data and to provide evidence of Good Laboratory Practice as well as improving lab productivity and efficiency, by keeping track of data associated with samples, experiments, laboratory workflows, and instruments. MDC now requires a robust LIMS with full traceability to ensure that quality is maintained and to readily demonstrate the integrity of work involving clinical samples. The opportunity is available on Proactis, please ensure you have registered as a supplier in order to be involved https://procontract.due-north.com/Register

Invitation to Tender under the NHS SBS Framework - Digital Workplace Solutions for Back Up & Disaster Recovery Services. MDC require a managed Backup and Disaster Recovery (DR) solution to provide coverage to all key systems and data. The solution should guard against both physical disasters (such as fires in the datacentre or lab locations) and logical disasters (cyber-attacks, equipment failure, etc.) with a solution scored in the 'Leaders' group of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup and Recovery Software Solutions 2023. 

Invitation to Tender under the NHS SBS Framework - Digital Workplace Solutions for Back Up & Disaster Recovery Services

PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy) is a £30 million initiative supporting and funding early-stage innovation in medicines and diagnostics, aimed at tackling AMR. It was established in September 2023 and is a collaboration between Innovate UK (IUK), LifeArc, and Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) - three leaders in the UK's health innovation and research community. The PACE programme is looking for an external provider to deliver an 'Enabling Project' in partnership related to early health economic analysis to support our cohort of AMR diagnostic innovation developers from our 2nd PACE funding call. Please see (https://paceamr.org.uk/news/ukhsa-announced-as-first-pace-collaboration-to-help-tackle-deadly-antimicrobial-resistance/) for details of our first enabling project partnering with UKHSA to provide access to clinical isolates for our first cohort of therapeutics developers. The overall purpose of this second enabling project is to provide PACE awardees and the wider AMR community with access to practical early-stage health economic outputs, including care pathway insights, indicative cost analyses, early-stage economic modelling and value proposition frameworks tailored to our cohorts emerging diagnostic technologies. These outputs will be designed to support product development decisions, stakeholder engagements and future reimbursement planning with relevance across bloodstream infections (BSI), respiratory tract infections (RTI) and urinary tract infections (UTI). To maximise impact, the provider is expected to group diagnostics with similar clinical positioning or use cases together to make the most of synergies across the cohort (e.g. when establishing the existing care pathway of the indications). Where relevant, the provider is also expected to align with existing or ongoing initiatives. A key priority is to ensure that insights, and findings from the project are made publicly available through open-access tools, share reports etc. to ensure that it benefits the broader AMR innovation community to inform future policy, funding and procurement decisions. The support required is across three work packages: Kick-off webinar: Introduce PACE awardees (diagnostics projects) to early-stage health economic assessment including its purpose, relevance and application across the cohort. Baseline development and modelling tool: Deliver care-pathway analyses (BSI, RTI and UTI) and a re-usable (modelling with guidance -enabling scenario testing using default assumptions. Project-specific deployment: Collaborate with each PACE project to input diagnostic specific data, generate tailored analyses, and refine the tool using real-world examples.

PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy) is a £30 million initiative supporting and funding early-stage innovation in medicines and diagnostics, aimed at tackling AMR. It was established in September 2023 and is a collaboration between Innovate UK (IUK), LifeArc, and Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) - three leaders in the UK's health innovation and research community. The PACE programme is looking for an external provider to deliver an 'Enabling Project' in partnership related to early health economic analysis to support our cohort of AMR diagnostic innovation developers from our 2nd PACE funding call. Please see (https://paceamr.org.uk/news/ukhsa-announced-as-first-pace-collaboration-to-help-tackle-deadly-antimicrobial-resistance/) for details of our first enabling project partnering with UKHSA to provide access to clinical isolates for our first cohort of therapeutics developers. The overall purpose of this second enabling project is to provide PACE awardees and the wider AMR community with access to practical early-stage health economic outputs, including care pathway insights, indicative cost analyses, early-stage economic modelling and value proposition frameworks tailored to our cohorts emerging diagnostic technologies. These outputs will be designed to support product development decisions, stakeholder engagements and future reimbursement planning with relevance across bloodstream infections (BSI), respiratory tract infections (RTI) and urinary tract infections (UTI). To maximise impact, the provider is expected to group diagnostics with similar clinical positioning or use cases together to make the most of synergies across the cohort (e.g. when establishing the existing care pathway of the indications). Where relevant, the provider is also expected to align with existing or ongoing initiatives. A key priority is to ensure that insights, and findings from the project are made publicly available through open-access tools, share reports etc. to ensure that it benefits the broader AMR innovation community to inform future policy, funding and procurement decisions. The support required is across three work packages: Kick-off webinar: Introduce PACE awardees (diagnostics projects) to early-stage health economic assessment including its purpose, relevance and application across the cohort. Baseline development and modelling tool: Deliver care-pathway analyses (BSI, RTI and UTI) and a re-usable (modelling with guidance -enabling scenario testing using default assumptions. Project-specific deployment: Collaborate with each PACE project to input diagnostic specific data, generate tailored analyses, and refine the tool using real-world examples.

Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) are establishing an Executive and Senior Search contract to meet MDC's requirements. MDC do not guarantee any volume or value of work from this Executive and Senior Search contract; however, it is MDC's intention to use the contract for the search and replacement of specific roles. However, the MDC reserve the right to procure services outside of the contract if it sees fit. The contract includes the search, headhunting and recruitment of roles within MDC to source senior or specialist staff. The typical scope of roles / vacancies will include, but are not limited to: Board roles CEO C suite Senior Leadership roles across all disciplines Niche / specific roles All of the above to include: Permanent staff; Fixed Term Staff; Temporary Staff; and Contractors. MDC do not guarantee any volume or value of work from this contract. The value of work is calculated at a potential average of four senior hires per year, along with any interim requirements. With a significant portion of the calculated estimated value based on interim staff members approved hours where the chosen supplier makes payment to the interim staff member on behalf of MDC.

Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) are establishing an Executive and Senior Search contract to meet MDC's requirements. MDC do not guarantee any volume or value of work from this Executive and Senior Search contract; however, it is MDC's intention to use the contract for the search and replacement of specific roles. However, the MDC reserve the right to procure services outside of the contract if it sees fit. The contract includes the search, headhunting and recruitment of roles within MDC to source senior or specialist staff. The typical scope of roles / vacancies will include, but are not limited to: Board roles CEO C suite Senior Leadership roles across all disciplines Niche / specific roles All of the above to include: Permanent staff; Fixed Term Staff; Temporary Staff; and Contractors. MDC do not guarantee any volume or value of work from this contract. The value of work is calculated at a potential average of four senior hires per year, along with any interim requirements. With a significant portion of the calculated estimated value based on interim staff members approved hours where the chosen supplier makes payment to the interim staff member on behalf of MDC.

Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) is an independent, not-for-profit innovation centre for drug discovery and part of the Catapult Network established by Innovate UK. MDC's vision is to reshape drug discovery for patient benefit by transforming great UK science into better treatments through partnership. It supports drug discovery innovators by making world-class expertise, facilities, complex technologies, and advanced analytics accessible to enable successful medicines discovery. MDC develops pioneering, impactful R&D collaborations across biotech, academia, technology companies, charities, and global pharma. It brings these communities together in active, focused national programmes that target high-risk areas of patient need. This requirement originates from the Partnership Team at Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), which includes national programmes across neuroscience and infection, virtual R&D, and complex medicine. The team plays a central role in enabling and accelerating UK drug discovery by identifying unmet needs, supporting ecosystem coordination, and helping to navigate the scientific and translational complexities of areas such as diseases of the brain. To fulfil its role effectively, the team must remain consistently informed about recent scientific developments, innovation opportunities, and areas of commercial promise. This enables MDC to identify and shape collaborative initiatives, support investment cases, and build strategies aligned to evolving national and global health priorities. The current emphasis has been on neuroscience, particularly neurodegenerative diseases, mental health, and drug discovery and delivery. Previous work has included: • A landscape mapping exercise to inform the strategy for the Dementia Goals Programme, providing a foundational view of the UK's capabilities, gaps, and opportunities; • Exploration of emerging scientific trends and innovation gaps within mental health, supporting the work of the Psychiatry Consortium; • Early-stage analysis on cross-cutting opportunities within complex medicine. Building on this initial work, MDC now seeks to expand the scope and focus of the landscape activity to include: • Deeper insights into priority areas aligned to the Partnership Team's strategic objectives; • A clearer understanding of challenges such as blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration and the development of novel Central Nervous System drug modalities; • Identification of translational and commercial opportunities across neuroscience and beyond (e.g., infectious diseases). MDC requires a consultant to: • Provide ongoing scientific and strategic intelligence relevant to current and future areas of focus and interest such as neuroscience, infection, CNS drug delivery, etc. • Identify translational and commercial opportunities through horizon scanning and landscape analysis in defined scientific areas. • Support development of investment cases and programme design by synthesising internal and external data sources. • Produce materials including presentations, written briefs, dashboards, and updates for internal and external stakeholders. Deliverables would be specific for each project, but it is expected that they could include: • Monthly briefings summarising relevant scientific, policy, and/or commercial developments (oral or written). • At least one deep-dive landscape output (e.g., dashboard, short report or slide deck) per quarter, focused on agreed priority themes (e.g., BBB, emerging modalities, patient stratification). • Ad hoc input to internal programme development and stakeholder materials (e.g., funder presentations, project design). The supplier must have a proven track record of delivering high quality technical writing, with strong communication skills. A minimum of 5 years' experience in technical or scientific writing, with demonstrable experience in life sciences. Access to proprietary databases to access the relevant datasets useful for the specific projects (including OpenAlex, Europe PMC, PubMed, CrossRef, Dimensions, Lens.org (patents), ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO ICTRP, NICE Evidence). Expertise in the use of AI and language models to automate and classify data retrieval and apply thematic analyses Proven ability to synthesise scientific and commercial insights for strategic use. Previously work in areas relevant to MDC strategic mission.

This tender is for services relating to our communications and marketing function, including branding, design, marketing material production, photography and filming as part Of CCS Framework RM6124 Communications Marketplace DPS. We have conducted a filtered search of the framework suppliers and a Capability Assessment to reach an eventual shortlist of Suppliers. It is recommended any interested parties join the above DPS for future opportunities.

PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy) is a £30 million initiative supporting and funding early-stage innovation in medicines and diagnostics, aimed at tackling AMR. It was established in September 2023 and is a collaboration between Innovate UK (IUK), LifeArc, and Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) - three leaders in the UK's health innovation and research community. PACE brings together the funding, resources, and partnerships to help innovators progress their early-stage antimicrobial drug and diagnostics projects with greater speed, support and confidence - giving the best AMR innovations the greatest chance of success. PACE will create a path to value through 3 strategic goals which will be underpinned by effective programme management and delivery: Grow a pipeline of high-quality antimicrobial drugs and associated diagnostics aligned with unmet needs and route to patient impact. Provide innovative researchers in Academia and SMEs located globally the funding, advice and support they need to build de-risked and investment ready assets Convene collaboration network(s) to identify barriers to innovation, advance programmes and drive new collaborative R&D. It is a requirement of MDC's grant funding agreement with Innovate UK and LifeArc that the outcomes and long-term impacts of PACE activities are assessed at key time points throughout the programme's timeline. The PACE programme is funded for an initial term of five years and as of April 2026 will reach its midway point in this funding cycle and so there is a need to conduct an interim review of progress towards expected outcomes. Findings from this interim review will directly inform programme refinement. Key to this will be the opportunity to gather feedback and learning from Round 1 beneficiaries and partners on the PACE Academy, the project management process, and the use of Enabling projects so far. It will also allow the programme to capture the experiences of beneficiaries from Round 2 to date. This will provide learning in how best to support the Round 2 beneficiaries and for the future Round 3 of funding which will be targeted at a second group of therapeutic companies. It is expected that findings from the interim review will directly inform the need and shape for PACE beyond the first 5 - year funded term. The PACE programme is now looking for an external provider to develop and produce an interim impact review and report (that will build upon the existing baseline impact study completed in June 2025) to understand how key activities are progressing towards expected outcomes which can be compared to the findings from the baseline study and at the endline stage. The overall purpose of the impact evaluation and this interim review is to be able to assess the impact of PACE on the AMR drug development ecosystem and on the development of drugs and diagnostics.

PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy) is a £30 million initiative supporting and funding early-stage innovation in medicines and diagnostics, aimed at tackling AMR. It was established in September 2023 and is a collaboration between Innovate UK (IUK), LifeArc, and Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) - three leaders in the UK's health innovation and research community. PACE brings together the funding, resources, and partnerships to help innovators progress their early-stage antimicrobial drug and diagnostics projects with greater speed, support and confidence - giving the best AMR innovations the greatest chance of success. PACE will create a path to value through 3 strategic goals which will be underpinned by effective programme management and delivery: Grow a pipeline of high-quality antimicrobial drugs and associated diagnostics aligned with unmet needs and route to patient impact. Provide innovative researchers in Academia and SMEs located globally the funding, advice and support they need to build de-risked and investment ready assets Convene collaboration network(s) to identify barriers to innovation, advance programmes and drive new collaborative R&D. It is a requirement of MDC's grant funding agreement with Innovate UK and LifeArc that the outcomes and long-term impacts of PACE activities are assessed at key time points throughout the programme's timeline. The PACE programme is funded for an initial term of five years and as of April 2026 will reach its midway point in this funding cycle and so there is a need to conduct an interim review of progress towards expected outcomes. Findings from this interim review will directly inform programme refinement. Key to this will be the opportunity to gather feedback and learning from Round 1 beneficiaries and partners on the PACE Academy, the project management process, and the use of Enabling projects so far. It will also allow the programme to capture the experiences of beneficiaries from Round 2 to date. This will provide learning in how best to support the Round 2 beneficiaries and for the future Round 3 of funding which will be targeted at a second group of therapeutic companies. It is expected that findings from the interim review will directly inform the need and shape for PACE beyond the first 5 - year funded term. The PACE programme is now looking for an external provider to develop and produce an interim impact review and report (that will build upon the existing baseline impact study completed in June 2025) to understand how key activities are progressing towards expected outcomes which can be compared to the findings from the baseline study and at the endline stage. The overall purpose of the impact evaluation and this interim review is to be able to assess the impact of PACE on the AMR drug development ecosystem and on the development of drugs and diagnostics.

MDC requires high level solution requirements for the replacement of Financial Management and Project Management & Resourcing systems. Suppliers who meet the requirements are invited to submit responses in accordance with this published invitation to tender (ITT). The tender will be published in 2 lots: • Lot 1: Financial Management system; and • Lot 2: Project Management and Resourcing System. Suppliers may tender for one or both lots, submitting separate Bidder response documents for each lot. Lots will be evaluated separately and independently by different teams of evaluators, some of whom may be independent experts not directly employed by MDC. MDC reserves the right to make either separate awards for each lot or a combined award if this provides improved value. Details are at https://procontract.due-north.com/Procurer/Advert/AdvertSummary?projectId=fa2795b9-1a13-f111-813c-005056b64545&projectStepId=062895b9-1a13-f111-813c-005056b64545

MDC requires high level solution requirements for the replacement of Financial Management and Project Management & Resourcing systems. Suppliers who meet the requirements are invited to submit responses in accordance with this published invitation to tender (ITT). The tender will be published in 2 lots: • Lot 1: Financial Management system; and • Lot 2: Project Management and Resourcing System. Suppliers may tender for one or both lots, submitting separate Bidder response documents for each lot. Lots will be evaluated separately and independently by different teams of evaluators, some of whom may be independent experts not directly employed by MDC. MDC reserves the right to make either separate awards for each lot or a combined award if this provides improved value. Details are at https://procontract.due-north.com/Procurer/Advert/AdvertSummary?projectId=fa2795b9-1a13-f111-813c-005056b64545&projectStepId=062895b9-1a13-f111-813c-005056b64545