Public sector opens tender to expand molecular testing across food and environment
New procurement brings together molecular and serological diagnostics for environmental microbiology, food safety and human health, echoing wider lab upgrades.
New procurement brings together molecular and serological diagnostics for environmental microbiology, food safety and human health, echoing wider lab upgrades.
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A public health institute in Primorsko-goranske županije is seeking a wide range of molecular and serological diagnostics and systems that span environmental microbiology, food safety and human health. The new Laboratory Tests contract notice signals how public laboratories are knitting together different strands of surveillance as molecular methods become routine.
Published on 23rd December 2025, the procurement from Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije covers “various molecular and serological diagnostic tests and systems” for three distinct but connected domains: environmental microbiology, food safety and human health.
Molecular diagnostics generally use techniques such as amplification and detection of genetic material to identify microorganisms or their genes. Serological diagnostics focus on antibodies or antigens in blood or other samples, often showing exposure or immune response. By acquiring both types of tests and the related systems, the institute is positioning itself to detect pathogens and hazards through several complementary routes.
The notice brings together areas that are often handled in separate laboratory structures. Environmental microbiology deals with microorganisms in environmental samples, while food safety testing is designed to spot contamination and spoilage risks before products reach consumers. Human health diagnostics focus on infection, immunity and disease in patients or population samples. Grouping these in a single procurement suggests an effort to align methods, platforms or supply chains across these fields.
The brief description does not detail volumes, pathogens or instruments, and it gives no indication of contract value. Even so, the combination of molecular and serological tests with “systems” alongside them points towards a mix of reagents, consumables and equipment. That mix mirrors how many public laboratories are now buying diagnostics as an integrated package rather than as isolated items.
The Primorsko-goranske županije notice lands in a year where many health and hospital bodies have been expanding molecular capacity. In July 2025, for example, Vilniaus miesto savivaldybės administracija launched a procurement for Mobile Laboratory Tests, covering general and rare tests together with infectious molecular diagnostics and pathological tests. That move highlighted the push to take high-end testing closer to where samples are collected.
On 14th July 2025, Kliniczny Szpital Wojewódzki nr 2 im. Św. Jadwigi Królowej w Rzeszowie issued a notice for Tests and Reagents for PCR Analyzer, combining the purchase and delivery of tests, reagents and accessories for rapid molecular diagnostics with the lease of a PCR analyser. Here, reagents and hardware are treated as a single operational unit.
Just a day later, on 16th July 2025, Land Baden-Württemberg’s Landesgesundheitsamt sought an Automated System for PCR Testing for its laboratory, aiming to enhance diagnostics for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. The specification for a fully automated real-time PCR system capable of processing over 250 samples in eight hours, supported by a monthly reagent supply, shows how throughput and continuity of consumables now sit at the heart of public-sector lab planning.
Later in the year, large hospital laboratories reinforced this direction. In November 2025, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nîmes published a framework agreement for Microbiology Laboratory Supplies, spanning reagents and quality control materials for serodiagnosis and PCR detection of multiple pathogens. And in December 2025, group purchasing organisation Resah went to market for wide-ranging Molecular Biology and NGS Solutions, including automated systems, reagents and services for molecular biology and next-generation sequencing, with a range of PCR systems and library preparation kits.
Together, these contracts show molecular platforms becoming central infrastructure for public laboratories, rather than specialist add-ons. The new Primorsko-goranske županije procurement fits this pattern: its emphasis on molecular diagnostics, coupled with serological tests, reflects a wider shift towards high-sensitivity, high-throughput methods underpinning both routine and specialist analysis.
It is not only hospitals that are modernising their diagnostics. Public health institutes have been strengthening their testing capabilities throughout 2025, particularly around microbiology and molecular detection.
On 29th December 2025, the PHI Institute of Public Health of the Republic of North Macedonia Skopje advertised a Microbiological Tests Procurement for various microbiological tests and reagents for disease detection and diagnosis. That tender focuses squarely on equipping reference laboratories with the materials needed for surveillance work.
In October 2025, Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo announced a major order for Molecular Diagnostics Supplies, including reagents, kits and tests for DNA isolation, PCR, hybridisation tests and molecular detection of microorganisms. That move underlines how molecular workflows have become the backbone of national surveillance, demanding carefully standardised reagents and kits.
Earlier in the year, on 28th August 2025, INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE SANATATE PUBLICA sought Laboratory Equipment for PANDOMIC, covering a Real-Time RT PCR system and a vacuum concentrator. The tender’s stated aims were to enhance monitoring and investigation of infectious diseases, improve sample processing capabilities and ensure quality diagnostics in epidemiological situations, encapsulating the role such platforms now play in preparedness as well as day‑to‑day testing.
Hospital laboratories are making parallel moves to lock in both supplies and access to equipment. In October 2025, Wojewódzki Szpital Zespolony published a broad notice for Laboratory Supplies and Equipment, bringing together reagents, media, tests, transport sets, disposable equipment, chemicals and the lease of devices for bacteriology and pathomorphology departments.
On 9th September 2025, Uniwersytecki Szpital Kliniczny nr 1 im. prof. Tadeusza Sokołowskiego PUM w Szczecinie went to market for Reagents and Analyzer Lease, pairing the supply of reagents and auxiliary materials with the lease of a multi‑parameter PCR analyser for microbiological testing, including tests for pathogens and HPV detection. And in August 2025, Uniwersytecki Szpital Kliniczny im Jana Mikulicza - Radeckiego we Wrocławiu issued a similar combined procurement for Genetic Identification Tests and Equipment, covering tests for the genetic identification of viruses and Mycobacterium tuberculosis using real-time PCR, together with leased equipment for a microbiology laboratory.
These examples show a consistent pattern: instead of buying single assays or machines in isolation, public buyers are structuring procurements around complete diagnostic workflows. The Primorsko-goranske županije institute’s plan to buy both tests and systems across environmental microbiology, food safety and human health sits squarely within that trend.
For suppliers, the new laboratory tests procurement is another sign that public buyers expect comprehensive solutions. The wording around molecular and serological diagnostics for diverse application areas suggests that vendors who can support cross‑cutting platforms, common reagents and harmonised quality control will be well placed, even though the notice itself does not spell out technical specifications.
Commercial models are also evolving. On 22nd December 2025, Unidade Local de Saúde de Almada-Seixal, EPE published a notice for Molecular Biology Tests Acquisition that explicitly links real-time PCR tests with equipment provided on a consumption basis. Earlier, on 7th August 2025, Unidade Local de Saúde de Castelo Branco, E. P. E. sought a similar package of Molecular Biology Tests Acquisition for its clinical pathology service, covering PCR tests, syndromic diagnostic kits and other test kits. These deals show how equipment access can be tied directly to test consumption, a model that could also be relevant wherever “tests and systems” appear together in tenders.
For public health, combining environmental microbiology, food safety and human diagnostics in one procurement offers the chance to build more coherent surveillance. If laboratories can run compatible molecular and serological assays across environmental samples, food products and human specimens, they can compare data more easily and trace contamination or infection pathways with greater confidence. The exact extent to which the Primorsko-goranske županije institute will integrate workflows remains to be seen, but the structure of the notice supports that direction.
At the same time, these procurements underline the ongoing importance of basic laboratory supplies and quality systems. The Nîmes and Resah contracts, the molecular diagnostics frameworks in national institutes, and now this new laboratory tests tender all stress reagents, quality control and standardised kits as much as machines. For laboratories, reliability and continuity of supplies are as critical as technological sophistication.
The Primorsko-goranske županije notice is short, and key details such as contract value, volumes and specific test panels are not yet visible. The award outcome will therefore be an important signal of which technologies, platforms and suppliers are gaining ground in integrated environmental, food and human health diagnostics.
Set alongside late‑2025 procurements for microbiological tests, molecular diagnostics supplies, automated PCR systems and NGS solutions, this laboratory tests tender suggests that molecular and serological diagnostics are now embedded in the core of public‑sector laboratory work. Observers will be watching how far the chosen solution links environmental microbiology, food safety and human health in practice, and whether future procurements in the region follow the same integrated pattern.
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