A regional buyer in Italy is exploring outsourced multigene tests for early-stage breast cancer, signalling wider shifts in how public systems buy genomics.
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A regional buyer in Italy has opened a market consultation to outsource multigenic prognostic and predictive tests for early-stage hormone-responsive breast cancer, highlighting how health systems are turning to external genomic laboratories to support complex treatment decisions.
On 27th January 2026, SCR PIEMONTE SPA published a prior information notice for a market consultation for outsourcing multigenic prognostic and predictive tests for early-stage hormone-responsive breast cancer. The buyer is sounding out the market before drafting a full procurement for a regional service.
The tests in scope are described as both prognostic and predictive for early-stage hormone-responsive disease. Similar procurements elsewhere show that this kind of multigene analysis is used to support decisions on adjuvant treatment after surgery, and the wording of the Italian notice points to a comparable role here.
An outsourced service implies that testing would be carried out by external providers rather than on equipment owned and run by local hospitals. Market consultations of this kind are commonly used to explore market capacity and inform technical specifications before a full procurement is launched.
Although the Piemonte notice is brief, it sits within a pattern of public buyers treating high-complexity genetic testing as a specialised service to be purchased from the market. Frameworks and service contracts are emerging across Europe for multigene breast cancer tests and broader genetic analysis, rather than simple equipment purchases.
In September 2025 the LNS in Luxembourg launched a framework agreement for medical analysis services in genetics, spanning complex diagnostic testing and prenatal screening with options for additional genetic tests. In December 2025 Beskidzkie Centrum Onkologii in Poland sought health services for genetic testing, signalling a similar reliance on external specialist laboratories.
Against this backdrop, the Piemonte prior information notice points to an intention to commission a regional service that offers consistent access to multigenic assays for eligible breast cancer patients. Concentrating demand in a single contract can make it easier to set common quality thresholds and manage how results are reported back into hospital systems.
In September 2025 the health service at Hospital San Juan de Reus in Catalonia launched a service for genomic testing to determine adjuvant treatment for early-stage postoperative breast cancer. In December 2025 UNIVERZITETNI KLINIČNI CENTER MARIBOR in Slovenia went to market for genomic testing services to guide chemotherapy decisions for premenopausal patients with early breast cancer. Both contracts underline how treatment decisions in early-stage disease are now closely tied to multigene assays.
Most recently, in January 2026 the health service of the Balearic Islands issued a procurement for multigene testing services aimed at prognostic and therapeutic predictive assessment for patients with localised breast cancer. Taken together, these notices suggest that regional health systems across Europe are converging on outsourced multigene testing as the preferred model for this part of the breast cancer pathway.
Public buyers are also investing directly in platforms and digital tools that underpin genomic and image-based cancer diagnostics. In October 2025 Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona sought a supply service of genomic platforms for breast cancer, bringing more of this technology inside the hospital. The previous month, the IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II” in Bari launched a tender for the acquisition of a tissue analysis instrument with multiplex imaging, including risk cover, specialist assistance and on-site training.
Digital tools are moving rapidly into breast diagnostics as well. In October 2025 Regions Southern and Central Denmark procured an AI mammography solution to enhance breast cancer screening and alleviate a shortage of mammographers. In November 2025 NHS England began a preliminary market consultation on implementing AI in histopathology to support the diagnosis of prostate and breast cancer.
At the same time, several hospitals are using insourcing contracts to expand breast imaging capacity without outsourcing patients entirely. In October 2025 East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust signalled plans to award a contract for insourced breast imaging and reporting services. In December 2025 East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust sought approval to award a symptomatic breast clinic contract under the new Provider Selection Regime, while Beaumont Hospital sought a provider for an insourced general ultrasound, breast ultrasound and mammography solution delivered during off-hours. Other trusts, such as Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with its insourced gynaecology services contract in September 2025, show how insourcing has become an established route to expand clinical capacity.
Within this mixed landscape, SCR PIEMONTE SPA’s plan to outsource multigenic breast cancer testing stands out as a deliberate choice to buy genomic analysis as a service, while other elements of the breast cancer pathway – from imaging to histopathology – are being reinforced through insourcing or investment in equipment and AI.
The Piemonte notice is one of a growing number of pre-tender market engagements for highly specialised diagnostics. In November 2025 ASL2 in Liguria opened a preliminary market consultation for a combined system to study clinically relevant genetic variants in oncological diagnostics, including assistance services and consumable materials. NHS England’s AI histopathology consultation in November 2025 has a similar purpose: to inform commercial strategy before any formal tender is issued.
Outside oncology, diagnostics buyers are using the same approach for point-of-care testing. In November 2025 Azienda Zero in Padova began a market survey on decentralised POCT diagnostic systems, aiming for technological simplification, reduced redundancies and improved data traceability. In January 2026 the Business Services Organisation launched a two-stage preliminary market engagement for a managed service contract for point-of-care INR and handheld blood gas testing.
For diagnostics suppliers, these consultations create earlier opportunities to engage with buyers and influence technical requirements and service models. For public bodies, they offer a way to de-risk procurements that involve complex science, data flows and multi-site implementation.
The Piemonte prior information notice does not yet spell out expected test volumes, contract length or whether a single provider or several will be appointed. Those details will only become clear if a full tender follows the current consultation.
Key points to watch include:
Across Europe, however, the direction is visible from the recent sequence of notices: complex genomic and digital diagnostics for cancer are now treated as core parts of public healthcare, and procurement teams are experimenting with a mix of outsourced services, insourcing arrangements and technology acquisitions to deliver them.
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