Contracts with INNOVA MEDICAL GROUP INC

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Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

I have been closely following the government's procurement practices following the introduction of emergency measures on 18 March in response to the pandemic. I have recently seen two contracts with INNOVA MEDICAL GROUP INC,

1) £496 million, contract start 6 October, https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov....
2) £104 million, contract start 17 September, https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov....

When researching this company, I came across a post on Evaluate.com which read "Across the pond, it has emerged that a rapid antigen test bought in large numbers by the UK government cannot be used as intended. The Sars-Cov-2 Antigen Rapid Qualitative Test is, according to its instructions for use, only suitable for use in patients with Covid-19 symptoms. The UK government bought 20 million of these tests in October with the intention of using them to screen asymptomatic people."

Link: https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/article...

I would therefore like to know whether either of the above mentioned contracts are for test kits which cannot be used for their intended purpose. If the answer is yes, can the Department of Health tell me how many test kits it has purchased from Innova Medical Group which cannot be used, and what it intends to so with these unusable supplies.

Yours faithfully,

John Lubbock

Department of Health and Social Care

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Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

May I kindly ask for an update on this FoI, at least telling me whether it is possible for you to answer it or not?

Yours faithfully,

John Lubbock

Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Lubbock,

Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your recent FOI request (our ref: FOI-1280411 ).
 

Please accept our apology for the late arrival of this reply.

Yours sincerely, 

Ed Franklyn
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

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