Ireland – Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products – Supply of a Vega HiFi Long-Read Sequencing System with Reagents and Maintenance for Galway Reference Laboratory

HSE Procurement is establishing a six-year sole-source agreement with Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. to supply one Vega HiFi long-read sequencing system and associated consumables for Galway Reference Laboratory Services (GRLS). GRLS is Ireland's national reference laboratory for antimicrobial resistance testing and outbreak investigation, focusing on foodborne pathogens and carbapenemase-producing organisms. The Vega HiFi system will enhance detection and characterisation of mobile genetic elements and antimicrobial resistance genes by providing highly accurate long-read sequencing (99.9% accuracy with >90% of bases at Q30+), which existing short-read sequencing cannot achieve. The system must integrate with GRLS's bioinformatics workflow for plasmid characterisation and clustering analysis. Alternative long-read technologies, including Oxford Nanopore, were evaluated but do not meet the required raw-read accuracy (Q26 vs. Q30+ requirement). As the sole provider of SMRT sequencing technology and proprietary consumables, Pacific Biosciences is being awarded the contract under Article 32(2)(b)(ii) of Directive 2014/24/EU due to absence of competition for technical reasons. The contract will commence after a 14-day standstill period from publication.