Slide Presentation
A slide presentation describing the important features of Biosample Hub from the company (requester) perspective can be downloaded here:
Models For Biosample Sourcing
The majority of human biosamples originate within the public sector, in academic medical centres, community hospitals, and clinics, where patients come for diagnosis and treatment. Biosamples that have been approved and consented for research are often stored in academic biobanks which form an invaluable resource for medical research use in both public and private sectors.
The diagram shows three possible models by which biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies can access biosamples in academic biobanks. This illustrates one major advantage of Biosample Hub: the requester and the provider can make a direct connection and furthermore, this connection can be made in either direction, by either party.
Benefits of Biosample Hub
Biosample Hub connects you directly with the academic biobanks and clinicians who are responsible for the collection of samples, collection of clinical data, and collection of informed consent. This direct connection brings many benefits, including traceability, access to expertise, and access to subsequent services.
No contract
No contract needs to be signed in order to use the Biosample Hub platform. As there is no contract, there are no contractual restrictions!
Provenance information
Provenance information: the researcher has certainty about where biosamples come from and who has processed them. The researcher can also communicate directly with the source biobank in order to find out more. Having reliable provenance information is important for scientific and ethical reasons.
Access to expertise
Direct contact with the team who collected the biosample provides access to clinical, scientific and technical expertise that may be vital for successful research.
Providers may offer additional services like preparation of DNA or RNA, tissue microarray construction, immunohistochemistry, or primary culture.
Subsequent services
Direct contact also means that it will be easier to obtain additional information about patients and their samples, if this becomes necessary in the future. It may also be possible to obtain additional samples from the same patients.
Financial transparency
Biosample Hub provides complete financial transparency. For requesters there is a subscription fee for annual membership.
Any transactions between requester and provider must take place independently of the platform and no commission is charged.
The platform is run by a not-for-profit company without any shareholders. Any financial surpluses are reinvested in the company.
Time-saving
100% of the biobanks listed on Biosample Hub are interested in working with industry. This is because connecting with industry is the stated purpose of the platform. Also, since membership is entirely voluntary, listing in the directory shows that the biobank is motivated to work with industry. As a result, the industry researcher does not waste time contacting biobanks that are not interested in working with industry.
User-friendly design
The user-friendly design of Biosample Hub promotes efficient data entry and searching. For example, the dropdown lists of disease names are based on a simplified version of ICD-10 with use of terminology that is popular in industry. These drop-down lists reduce the number of choices for the user, prevent the use of multiple names for the same disease, prevent spelling mistakes and make data entry faster.
Requester directory
A unique feature: unlike other biobank directories, the Biosample Hub platform includes a requester directory which allows biobanks to find companies they may be interested in collaborating with or partnering in other ways. Requesters have full control over their directory entries and can update their details whenever they like and in real time. Throughout the Biosample Hub, actual email addresses are hidden to maintain privacy, so it is up to each participant to decide when they are ready to share their email or other contact details.
Request noticeboard
Biosample Hub also includes a request noticeboard, where companies can post specific requests with full details like inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Discussion forum
Another component of the platform is the discussion forum. This is currently shared by biobanks and companies. In future, if there is sufficient demand, we will have separate discussion fora for biobanks and companies.
Global reach
The Biosample Hub provides one single global biobank directory. Industry researchers can access biosample providers from anywhere in the world.
Additional support
Extra help is available on a consultancy basis through Biosample Management Ltd. This is work charged by the hour. It may include international searches for samples (off-platform) and negotiation with potential partners in academia. For more information please visit this website:
