Norway – Blood analysis services – R&D service contract for full blood analyses

In accordance with the Public Procurement Regulation (FOA) § 21-5, it is hereby informed that the Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition (LCBC) at the University of Oslo intends to enter into a contract for research and development services with the Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, University of Gothenburg. The contract ceiling value over 4 years is NOK 2,7 million excluding VAT. LCBC at the University of Oslo has concluded that this contract falls within the exception for contracts regarding research and development services in FOA § 2-5. The contract will involve the purchase of full blood analyses for several projects at LCBC. The necessary analyses are: NULISASeq™ CNS panel 120. The main element of the contract is the development of new knowledge related to brain health testing in cognitively healthy, middle-aged and older individuals. The collaboration between LCBC and the Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory at the University of Gothenburg will focus on developing screening tools for brain health, particularly concerning neurodegenerative diseases. This is not currently available in the market, and the collaboration will contribute to generating the knowledge required for this. Joint studies are planned with shared publications related to the relationship between plasma-based biomarkers and cognitive and brain changes measured by MRI. The analyses will be funded by the Research Council of Norway, as well as other sponsors such as the Simons Foundation. As the main element of this contract is development of new knowledge and that the University does not pay for the services itself but uses external financial resources, the contract is exempt from the procurement regulations, cf. FOA § 2-5.The contract will be entered into after 10 days from this announcement.