To request the Invitation to Tender (ITT) pack, please email dtaprocurement@hdruk.ac.uk referencing DTA ITT and you will be sent the ITT pack by return.  No other contact point, or email address should be used.

 

Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) are inviting tenders from suitably experienced and qualified suppliers to support the delivery of a pilot service – Brain Health Community Assessment for Trials Service. This pilot service is a critical component of the Dementia Trials Accelerator (DTA) programme which is supporting the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme and funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Programme vision

The Dementia Trials Accelerator (DTA) vision is for the UK to become the destination of choice for late-phase clinical trials in dementia and neurodegenerative diseases.

The aims of the DTA are to:

  1. Increase trial recruitment by identifying potential participants in trials by creating a “biomarker toolbox”. This toolbox will incorporate one or more of: genetic or clinical risk scores, blood-based biomarkers, and clinical measurements of subjects living with or at risk of dementia and related neurodegenerative disorders.
  2. Work with existing UK patient or population cohorts to approach people for clinical trials to identify potential participants.
  3. Accelerate low-cost identification of potential participants in dementia and neurodegenerative trials with community-based, digitally-enabled, trial pre-screening.
  4. Accelerate collaborative neurodegenerative research through assembly of a secure UK-wide AI-enabled data platform that makes multi-dimensional FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) through trustworthy and secure data environment(s).
  5. Prioritise the needs of industry innovators, patients and the public with an iterative engagement with stakeholders.

Service required

The Brain Health Community Assessment for Trials Service is central to this vision. It will provide pre-screening for a range of dementia and neurodegenerative clinical trials close to where people live as recommended by the O’Shaughnessy Review.  The appointed provider will deliver comprehensive services, including:

  1. Appointment booking system that enables participants to book appointments directly through a portal
  2. Booking system able to receive information from and interface via secure integration with data partners
  3. Telephone and email support with appointment booking if needed by participants
  4. Identity check and verifying or obtaining informed consent
  5. Complete 10,000 appointments – one appointment per participant to deliver;
    • community phlebotomy service
    • digital cognitive and day-to-day function assessment performed using electronic device in a quiet location;
    • physical measurements: height, weight, blood pressure;
  6. Blood sample processing
  7. Sample storage, tracking and shipment to a chosen UK location(s)
  8. Data collection, storage and sharing.

The service required will be a pilot with appointments across England, with plans to expand to underserved areas. The aim is to identify up to 10,000 potential trial participants over one year.

Providers must ensure accessibility and provide flexible service times which accommodates those who have daytime commitments. They must also comply with regulatory standards for sample handling, participant confidentiality, and data security.

This procurement marks the first phase of a broader initiative, future phases of which will include coverage of the four nations of the UK, subject to a separate procurement process.

To participate

The invitation will be announced via a published Contract Notice on the Find a Tenders Service website.

To request the Invitation to Tender (ITT) pack, please email dtaprocurement@hdruk.ac.uk referencing DTA ITT and you will be sent the ITT pack by return.  No other contact point, or email address should be used.

Clarification questions are welcomed and must be submitted by Monday 24 March 2025.

Tenders must be submitted by 13:00 BST on Monday 14 April 2025, in strict adherence to the instructions provided in the ITT and Contract Notice.

View Contract Notice

 

About Health Data Research UK (HDR UK)

Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) is an independent charity working to accelerate trustworthy data use to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives.

Our vision is for large-scale data to benefit every interaction with patients, every clinical trial and every biomedical discovery, and to transform public health.

We work in partnership with the NHS, industry, charities and universities to realise the potential of the UK’s wealth of health data in life-changing research. Patients and the public are actively involved in shaping HDR UK’s work and ensuring it delivers public benefit.

About UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI)

The UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) is the single biggest investment the UK has ever made in dementia thanks to founding funders the MRC, Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Its mission is through research to transform the outlook for people living with or at risk of dementia and related neurodegenerative conditions. Its target conditions include Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, fronto-temporal dementia, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and motor neuron disease.

The UK DRI is a distributed national MRC institute currently made up of over 950 researchers. It has world-leading expertise in a range of areas centred on mechanistic discovery research focussed on improved understanding of the cellular interplay that underpins disease initiation through to more applied and linked care and translational research programmes.