Our Firm with Eurofins Genoma achieves an important win before the Council of State

The Firm, with partners Andrea Grappelli and Francesco Rubino, advised Eurofins Genoma in the appeal to the Council of State, which upheld the award of a five-year contract worth over €1.3 million, issued by the Ferrara Local Health Authority (AUSL), for the provision of preimplantation genetic diagnosis services in the field of medically assisted reproduction.

The matter originated in 2022 with the tender launched by the AUSL of Ferrara, which had initially awarded first place to Juno Genetics España. Igenomix Italia, ranked third, challenged the outcome before the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Emilia-Romagna, contesting the scores given to the technical bids of its competitors.

In judgment no. 1/2024, the TAR ordered a re-evaluation solely of the technical bids submitted by Juno and Eurofins Genoma, while leaving that of Igenomix unchanged. Following this further assessment, the tender committee issued an updated ranking, placing Eurofins Genoma first and Igenomix second.

This new award was also subject to legal challenge. The first-instance administrative judges held that the second evaluation committee was bound by the parameters of the original assessment of Igenomix’s bid and was therefore required to adhere to the criteria previously adopted by the initial committee.

The Council of State, in a highly significant ruling, clarified that the technical discretion of the tender committee cannot be restricted unless there is clear evidence of irrationality or arbitrariness. It also highlighted that the tender specifications excluded pairwise comparison, and that while Igenomix’s bid could not be altered, it could not serve as a binding benchmark for the re-evaluation of other bids.

With this decision, the Council of State fully upheld the appeal brought by Eurofins Genoma, confirming the award of the contract to the company and establishing an important principle that clarifies the limits of technical discretion and the correct procedures for re-evaluating tender offers.