Published date: 26 June 2020

Awarded contract - This means that the contract has been awarded to a supplier.


Closing: 15 May 2020

Contract summary

Industry

  • Business and management consultancy and related services - 79400000

Location of contract

United Kingdom

Value of contract

£30,000

Procurement reference

NCL001-DN475582-47398704

Published date

26 June 2020

Closing date

15 May 2020

Contract start date

27 June 2020

Contract end date

30 October 2020

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Other

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. It develops slowly and can go undetected for many years. It has been estimated that the annual economic burden of the disease in the UK exceeds £269 million. This cost is expected to increase due to the rising prevalence of the disease, attributed to an ageing population. Current diagnosis relies on a combination of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing (which has low specificity and no prognostic value), and tissue biopsies (which are expensive, can be painful and only provide a snapshot of the tumour). A major problem is the difficulty distinguishing indolent benign (benign prostate hyperplasia (BHP)) and aggressive tumours. This leads to over-diagnosis, resulting in unnecessary biopsies, but also means some aggressive cancers are missed.

The Newcastle University team have developed a simple in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) that looks for 3 protein biomarkers. This diagnostic test 'GlycoScore' is based on a simple protein detection method (ELISA), using patient blood, which is widely used in clinics across the world, increasing the chances of adoption. Importantly, we have demonstrated that our diagnostic is superior to the current PSA blood test. Analysis comparing benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer showed the GlycoScore had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 93%, whereas PSA had a PPV of 68%.

The team has strong links with clinicians and patient groups and has been working with these stakeholders to better understand the current care pathway and how GlycoScore could be best implemented in a clinical environment.
The initial brief of the executive will be to:
(1) Produce a viable 5 year business plan;
(2) Obtain university approval for the venture;
(3) a. Act for the company in the spin-out legal process and address all company formation matters;
b. Obtain founder academics' and Newcastle University (including the Head of Company Creation) approval for appointment as CEO.
c. Provide to the appropriate university all matters necessary for ERDF or Research England reporting requirements;
(4) Secure (venture capital and other) funding

Award information

Awarded date

24 June 2020

Contract start date

26 June 2020

Contract end date

30 October 2020

Total value of contract

£30,000

This contract was awarded to 1 supplier.

Mr Allan Brown

Address

White Cottage,
Boots Green Lane
Allostock
Cheshire
WA16 9NH

Reference

None

Supplier is SME?

Yes

Supplier is VCSE?

No

About the buyer

Contact name

Natalie Morton

Address

Newcastle University
Procurement Services, Kingsgate
Newcastle
NE1 7RU
England

Telephone

+44 1912086396

Email

natalie.morton@ncl.ac.uk

Website

https://ncl.ac.uk