Diagnostics Procurement: How In Vitro Diagnostics Are Bought

Diagnostics procurement covers in vitro diagnostics (IVD), lab equipment, point-of-care testing and genomics platforms bought by hospitals, national labs and global health bodies. Buyers evaluate on accuracy, regulatory approval, cost-per-test, and increasingly on turnaround time and lab integration. Here's how the category works across the major markets.

Who buys diagnostics

• NHS trusts and NHS Supply Chain, lab equipment, point-of-care testing, genomics platforms
• National public health labs across the EU, via TED Europa tenders
• WHO and UNICEF, large-scale procurement of diagnostic test kits for global health programmes, often requiring WHO prequalification
• US federal and state health agencies, via SAM.gov

Regulatory requirements

Diagnostics face some of the strictest regulatory scrutiny in healthcare procurement:

• IVDR (EU) or UKCA marking depending on the market
• FDA clearance/approval for the US market
• WHO prequalification for global health procurement of many test types
• Clinical performance data, sensitivity, specificity, and validation studies

What buyers evaluate beyond accuracy

• Cost-per-test at scale, not just unit price
• Turnaround time, increasingly weighted as labs push for faster results
• Integration with existing lab information systems and automation
• Supply reliability, consistent reagent and consumable supply

Pricing diagnostics tenders

Diagnostics contracts often run for multiple years and cover large volumes, so getting the price right matters more than in most categories. Benchmarking against published award data for similar diagnostic contracts helps avoid both under- and over-pricing a multi-year commitment.

Finding diagnostics tenders

Diagnostic tenders are published across NHS, TED Europa, WHO and SAM.gov, each with different formats and classification systems. For a diagnostics company selling across the EU, UK, US and global health markets, tracking all four manually is the same fragmentation problem covered in manual tracking vs a platform.

How HealthProcure Intel helps

HealthProcure Intel aggregates diagnostics tenders and awards from TED Europa, SAM.gov, WHO and NHS into one dashboard, with regional benchmarks so you can price multi-year contracts with confidence. Start free, no credit card required.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need WHO prequalification to sell diagnostics globally?

For many test categories used in global health programmes, yes, it's often a requirement for WHO, UNICEF and Global Fund procurement.

Is diagnostics procurement more regulated than other medical devices?

Generally yes, IVD regulation (IVDR in the EU, FDA clearance in the US) tends to be stringent given the clinical decisions diagnostics inform.

What's typically weighted more: price or performance?

It varies by tender, but performance (accuracy, turnaround) is often weighted heavily alongside price for clinical diagnostics, more so than in some other device categories.