Randox signs UKHSA contract to strengthen UK pandemic preparedness

Randox has signed a contract with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to provide surge testing in support of the UK’s preparedness for future pandemics and public health emergencies.

Under the three-year agreement, Randox will maintain a state of operational readiness, ensuring its infrastructure, systems and expertise are ready to be rapidly mobilized.

If required to respond to a significant public health threat, Randox will scale its operations to provide capacity for up to 120,000 tests every 24 hours.

Testing would be delivered through Randox’s multi-site laboratory network, including facilities in Northern Ireland, Warrington and London. This geographically distributed network provides significant national capacity, operational resilience and the ability to support a coordinated testing response across the UK.

The scalable surge model is designed to enable testing volumes to be rapidly increased to support diagnosis, disease surveillance, outbreak management and wider public health interventions.

We are proud to partner with the UK Health Security Agency in strengthening the UK’s preparedness for future public health emergencies.”

Dr. Peter FitzGerald CBE, Founder and Managing Director, Randox

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the critical importance of having diagnostic infrastructure, scientific expertise and scalable laboratory capacity already in place before an emergency occurs.

Through our network of laboratories across the UK, Randox will maintain the systems and capabilities required to respond rapidly when called upon, with capacity for up to 120,000 tests per day.

This agreement builds on our experience supporting the UK’s national testing program during COVID-19 pandemic and reflects our continued commitment to protecting public health through world-leading diagnostics.”

Sr Shona Arora, Interim Chief Medical Advisor, UKHSA commented;

“Contracts like this are a critical part of our pandemic preparedness, ensuring the right infrastructure is in place before it's needed. This contract secures guaranteed access to significant additional laboratory testing capacity, which can be activated at speed if the UK faces a future pandemic or significant public health threat.

Maintaining this kind of capacity, alongside our own laboratory network, is a key part of UKHSA’s work to protect the public. It means that if a serious health threat emerges, we can rapidly expand testing to support early diagnosis, track the spread of disease, and respond effectively to protect people.”

Randox played a central role in supporting the UK Government’s COVID-19 response, investing significantly in laboratory infrastructure, technology and workforce expansion to deliver large-scale diagnostic testing at a time of unprecedented national demand.

That experience has helped inform a robust and scalable operational model capable of supporting the UK’s response to future emerging pathogens.

The new agreement ensures that vital laboratory capability is maintained during periods of low demand while remaining ready to transition into a high-capacity national testing operation should a public health emergency arise.