Challenges and Driving Forces for Business Plans in Biobanking

Understanding the value of biobank attributes to researchers using a conjoint experiment

Biobanks are important in biomedical and public health research, and future healthcare research relies on their strength and capacity. However, there are financial challenges related to the operation of commercial biobanks and concerns around the commercialization of biobanks. Non-commercial biobanks depend on grant funding to operate and could be valuable to researchers if they can enable access to quality specimens at lower costs. The objective of this study is to estimate the value of specific biobank attributes. We used a rating-based conjoint experiment approach to study how researchers valued handling fee, access, quality, characterization, breadth of consent, access to key endemics, and time taken to fulfil requests. We found that researchers placed the greatest relative importance on the quality of specimens (26%), followed by the characterization of specimens (21%). Researchers with prior experience purchasing biological samples also valued access to key endemic in-country sites (11.6%) and low handling fees (5.5%) in biobanks.

Better governance starts with better words: why responsible human tissue research demands a change of language

The rise of precision medicine has led to an unprecedented focus on human biological material in biomedical research. In addition, rapid advances in stem cell technology, regenerative medicine and synthetic biology are leading to more complex human tissue structures and new applications with tremendous potential for medicine. While promising, these developments also raise several ethical and practical challenges which have been the subject of extensive academic debate. These debates have led to increasing calls for longitudinal governance arrangements between tissue providers and biobanks that go beyond the initial moment of obtaining consent, such as closer involvement of tissue providers in what happens to their tissue, and more active participatory approaches to the governance of biobanks. However, in spite of these calls, such measures are being adopted slowly in practice, and there remains a strong tendency to focus on the consent procedure as the tool for addressing the ethical challenges of contemporary biobanking. In this paper, we argue that one of the barriers to this transition is the dominant language pervading the field of human tissue research, in which the provision of tissue is phrased as a 'donation' or 'gift', and tissue providers are referred to as 'donors'. Because of the performative qualities of language, the effect of using 'donation' and 'donor' shapes a professional culture in which biobank participants are perceived as passive providers of tissue free from further considerations or entitlements. This hampers the kind of participatory approaches to governance that are deemed necessary to adequately address the ethical challenges currently faced in human tissue research. Rather than reinforcing this idea through language, we need to pave the way for the kind of participatory approaches to governance that are being extensively argued for by starting with the appropriate terminology.

Economics of Biobanking: Business or Public Good? Literature Review, Structural and Thematic Analysis

This paper reviewed the relevant scientific literature on the business and economics of biobanking to explore key themes and paradigms. The structural properties of the literature were investigated, such as key authors, journals, studies, as well as co-citation and co-authorship networks; the study revealed that the research on business and economics is a niche area within the vast biobanking literature. The research is concentrated in a relatively small number of journals, institutions, and countries, which is rather surprising given the substantial public investment in and concerns about biobank sustainability. The structural analysis also suggested major themes in research on biobanking business and economics and noted shifts in focus on specific themes. The commercialisation of samples is more acknowledged than before but under the condition of equitable sharing of benefits across various stakeholders. Most biobanks are heavily subsidised by the public sector and are considered public goods rather than business enterprises. This is OK, but underutilisation of specimens and low rates of cost recovery suggest that the current mainstream operating model is hardly sustainable. With many biobanks maturing, long-term sustainability became a key topic of the discussion on biobanking trends.

Bridging gaps between images and data: a systematic update on imaging biobanks

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The systematic collection of medical images combined with imaging biomarkers and patient non-imaging data is the core concept of imaging biobanks, a key element for fuelling the development of modern precision medicine. Our purpose is to review the existing image repositories fulfilling the criteria for imaging biobanks.

METHODS

Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched for articles published in English from January 2010 to July 2021 using a combination of the terms: "imaging" AND "biobanks" and "imaging" AND "repository". Moreover, the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) database ( https://cordis.europa.eu/projects ) was searched using the terms: "imaging" AND "biobanks", also including collections, projects, project deliverables, project publications and programmes.

RESULTS

Of 9272 articles retrieved, only 54 related to biobanks containing imaging data were finally selected, of which 33 were disease-oriented (61.1%) and 21 population-based (38.9%). Most imaging biobanks were European (26/54, 48.1%), followed by American biobanks (20/54, 37.0%). Among disease-oriented biobanks, the majority were focused on neurodegenerative (9/33, 27.3%) and oncological diseases (9/33, 27.3%). The number of patients enrolled ranged from 240 to 3,370,929, and the imaging modality most frequently involved was MRI (40/54, 74.1%), followed by CT (20/54, 37.0%), PET (13/54, 24.1%), and ultrasound (12/54, 22.2%). Most biobanks (38/54, 70.4%) were accessible under request.

CONCLUSIONS

Imaging biobanks can serve as a platform for collecting, sharing and analysing medical images integrated with imaging biomarkers, biological and clinical data. A relatively small proportion of current biobanks also contain images and can thus be classified as imaging biobanks.

KEY POINTS

• Imaging biobanks are a powerful tool for large-scale collection and processing of medical images integrated with imaging biomarkers and patient non-imaging data. • Most imaging biobanks retrieved were European, disease-oriented and accessible under user request. • While many biobanks have been developed so far, only a relatively small proportion of them are imaging biobanks.

Recommendations for a Dutch Sustainable Biobanking Environment

Biobanks and their collections are considered essential for contemporary biomedical research and a critical resource toward personalized medicine. However, they need to operate in a sustainable manner to prevent research waste and maximize impact. Sustainability is the capacity of a biobank to remain operative, effective, and competitive over its expected lifetime. This remains a challenge given a biobank's position at the interplay of ethical, societal, scientific, and commercial values and the difficulties in finding continuous funding. In the end, biobanks are responsible for their own sustainability. Still, biobanks also depend on their surrounding environment, which contains overarching legislative, policy, financial, and other factors that can either impede or promote sustainability. The Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure for The Netherlands (BBMRI.nl) has worked on improving the national environment for sustainable biobanking. In this article, we present the final outcomes of this BBMRI.nl project. First, we summarize the current overarching challenges of the Dutch biobanking landscape. These challenges were gathered during workshops and focus groups with Dutch biobanks and their users, for which the full results are described in separate reports. The main overarching challenges relate to sample and data quality, funding, use and reuse, findability and accessibility, and the general image of biobanks. Second, we propose a package of recommendations—across nine themes—toward creating overarching conditions that stimulate and enable sustainable biobanking. These recommendations serve as a guideline for the Dutch biobanking community and their stakeholders to jointly work toward practical implementation and a better biobanking environment. There are undoubtedly parallels between the Dutch situation and the challenges found in other countries. We hope that sharing our project's approach, outcomes, and recommendations will support other countries in their efforts toward sustainable biobanking.

Pediatric biobanks and parents of disabled children associations opinions on establishing children repositories in developing countries

Pediatric biobanks are an indispensable resource for the research needed to bring advances in personalized medicine into pediatric medical care. It is unclear how or when these advances in medical care may reach children, but it is unlikely that research in adults will be adequate. We conducted the screening for a hypothetic problem in various European and American pediatric biobanks based on online surveys through e-mail distribution based on the Biobank Economic Modeling Tool (BEMT) questionnaire model. Participants in the survey had work experience in biobanking for at least 3 years or more. Contact information about the survey participants was confirmed on the social networks profiles (LinkedIn), as well as on generally available websites. First, we tried creating a model which can show the pediatric preclinical and basic clinical phase relationship and demonstrate how pediatric biobanking is linked to this process. Furthermore, we tried to look for new trends, and the final goal is to put the acquired knowledge into practice, so medical experts and patients could gain usable benefit from it. We concluded that leading positions must take into account ethical and legal aspects when considering the decision to include children in the biobank collection. However, communication with parents and children is essential. The biobank characteristics influence the biobank's motives to include children in the consent procedure. Moreover, the motives to include children influence how the children are involved in the consent procedure and the extent to which children are able to make voluntary decisions as part of the consent procedure.

Moving with the Times: The Health Science Alliance (HSA) Biobank, Pathway to Sustainability

Human biobanks are recognised as vital components of translational research infrastructure. With the growth in personalised and precision medicine, and the associated expansion of biomarkers and novel therapeutics under development, it is critical that researchers can access a strong collection of patient biospecimens, annotated with clinical data. Biobanks globally are undertaking transformation of their operating models in response to changing research needs; transition from a ‘classic’ model representing a largely retrospective collection of pre-defined specimens to a more targeted, prospective collection model, although there remains a research need for both models to co-exist. Here we introduce the Health Science Alliance (HSA) Biobank, established in 2012 as a classic biobank, now transitioning to a hybrid operational model. Some of the past and current challenges encountered are discussed including clinical annotation, specimen utilisation and biobank sustainability, along with the measures the HSA Biobank is taking to address these challenges. We describe new directions being explored, going beyond traditional specimen collection into areas involving bioimages, microbiota and live cell culture. The HSA Biobank is working in collaboration with clinicians, pathologists and researchers, piloting a sustainable, robust platform with the potential to integrate future needs.

Data Sharing Solutions for Biobanks for the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel illness, which is not fully understood. Whether an individual has traveled outside their respective country or never left their community, COVID-19 is a highly contagious illness, which can result in high death rates. Biobanks will play a role in providing tools to examine data from those receiving treatment along with reviewing the current and long treatment outcomes associated with this novel coronavirus disease. A diverse, global network made up of laboratory scientists, clinical researchers, epidemiologists, data science teams, physicians, and so on must have a standardized, collaborative, virtual biobanking solution to share clinical expertise and evidence-based solutions. This virtual biobank must be centrally managed to ensure standardized quality assurance and quality control efforts. Virtual biobanks will eliminate the need to transport samples between two locations for a specific study, minimizing the risk of contamination. It is necessary for virtual biobanks to upload imaging data from those patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Standardized, collected information will be essential in the area of discovery and validation of disease markers as well as novel therapeutic strategies. It is essential for biobanks to collect COVID-19 specimens along with corresponding clinical and demographic data from COVID-19 diagnostic testing. Because COVID-19 is an acute respiratory illness, proper collection procedures must be in place to collect respiratory samples for biobanking purposes. A preconfigured purpose-built COVID-19 Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is an efficient tool to seamlessly manage a data sharing network. Data entered into LIMS will be beneficial in designing much needed clinical trials to address any unmet needs to better address clinical treatment and outcomes. The partners or entities associated with the COVID-19 data sharing network will be able to effectively communicate, view data, and images associated with their respective research interest to advance COVID-19 research and data driven, clinical care.

Biobanking in health care: evolution and future directions

BACKGROUND

The aim of the present review is to discuss how the promising field of biobanking can support health care research strategies. As the concept has evolved over time, biobanks have grown from simple biological sample repositories to complex and dynamic units belonging to large infrastructure networks, such as the Pan-European Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI). Biobanks were established to support scientific knowledge. Different professional figures with varied expertise collaborate to obtain and collect biological and clinical data from human subjects. At same time biobanks preserve the human and legal rights of each person that offers biomaterial for research.

METHODS

A literature review was conducted in April 2019 from the online database PubMed, accessed through the Bibliosan platform. Four primary topics related to biobanking will be discussed: (i) evolution, (ii) bioethical issues, (iii) organization, and (iv) imaging.

RESULTS

Most biobanks were founded as local units to support specific research projects, so they evolved in a decentralized manner. The consequence is an urgent needing for procedure harmonization regarding sample collection, processing, and storage. Considering the involvement of biomaterials obtained from human beings, different ethical issues such as the informed consent model, sample ownership, veto rights, and biobank sustainability are debated. In the face of these methodological and ethical challenges, international organizations such as BBMRI play a key role in supporting biobanking activities. Finally, a unique development is the creation of imaging biobanks that support the translation of imaging biomarkers (identified using a radiomic approach) into clinical practice by ensuring standardization of data acquisition and analysis, accredited technical validation, and transparent sharing of biological and clinical data.

CONCLUSION

Modern biobanks permit large-scale analysis for individuation of specific diseases biomarkers starting from biological or digital material (i.e., bioimages) with well-annotated clinical and biological data. These features are essential for improving personalized medical approaches, where effective biomarker identification is a critical step for disease diagnosis and prognosis.

Biobank Continuity Management: A Survey of Biobank Professionals

Academic biobanks face challenges that call for continuity and disaster planning. However, current regulations do not require such planning, so it is unclear if and how biobanks have prepared themselves to deal with future crises. This exploratory study used mixed methods to understand the state of continuity planning in U.S. biobanks. It first reviewed the current state of regulatory and implementation requirements that drive and challenge continuity planning. A survey instrument was then developed and critiqued by a focus group of experienced practitioners in biobanking. The refined survey was disseminated to a targeted group of respondents employed at biobanks across the United States. Most respondents were associated with relatively mature biobanks in operation for more than 6 years and these typically had some form of continuity plan in place. More commonly, continuity planning was reported to be focused on countering natural disasters rather than organization- or personnel-related crises. Respondents identified their most common limitation to be financial resources affecting all phases of implementation. Although many respondents appeared to be aware of some guidance documents and standards for continuity planning, many reported that they did not use or reference them when constructing their biobank continuity plans. Furthermore, nearly 25% of surveyed biobanks did not have a continuity plan and 61% indicated concern in having a mandated continuity plan. Results suggested academic organizations would benefit from a continuity plan template and best practice guidelines for plan development and implementation.

Advancing Professionalization of Biobank Business Operations: A Worldwide Survey

Quality specimens from biobanks are key resources to support reproducible research. Sustaining biobanks requires robust management. We recently published a pilot survey that indicated that over half the participating biobanks had business plans in place and another third were working on business planning. While the results provided a clue to the status of business planning in biobanking, it was concluded that a longer and more in-depth survey and analysis were required. In April 2017, an extended survey was distributed worldwide in English, French, Chinese, German, and Spanish, through multiple channels. The survey was built using the Survey Monkey tool. Our hypothesis was that those biobanks that already have a business plan also have a more professional management structure. The questions were designed to understand more details about each biobank's business operations and communications. A total of 276 biobanks participated (China 65, France 40, United States 34, Spain 27, Germany 24, Australia 23, and rest of the world 63). About two thirds of the biobanks were established in the last 10 years. The responses provided data on the size of biobanks answering the survey, their status of business planning, and how and through what mediums they are communicating with customers. Biobanks with a business plan or preparing to have one showed a clear trend of having a customer strategy for marketing the samples and communicating with customers. No trend could be seen regarding websites and activities in social media. We confirmed our hypothesis that biobanks that have or are in the process of preparing a business plan are showing a trend toward more professional structures. In the biobanking community, the business mind-set and use of the business plan as a management tool have not quite arrived.

The RD-Connect Registry & Biobank Finder: a tool for sharing aggregated data and metadata among rare disease researchers

In rare disease (RD) research, there is a huge need to systematically collect biomaterials, phenotypic, and genomic data in a standardized way and to make them findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR). RD-Connect is a 6 years global infrastructure project initiated in November 2012 that links genomic data with patient registries, biobanks, and clinical bioinformatics tools to create a central research resource for RDs. Here, we present RD-Connect Registry & Biobank Finder, a tool that helps RD researchers to find RD biobanks and registries and provide information on the availability and accessibility of content in each database. The finder concentrates information that is currently sparse on different repositories (inventories, websites, scientific journals, technical reports, etc.), including aggregated data and metadata from participating databases. Aggregated data provided by the finder, if appropriately checked, can be used by researchers who are trying to estimate the prevalence of a RD, to organize a clinical trial on a RD, or to estimate the volume of patients seen by different clinical centers. The finder is also a portal to other RD-Connect tools, providing a link to the RD-Connect Sample Catalogue, a large inventory of RD biological samples available in participating biobanks for RD research. There are several kinds of users and potential uses for the RD-Connect Registry & Biobank Finder, including researchers collaborating with academia and the industry, dealing with the questions of basic, translational, and/or clinical research. As of November 2017, the finder is populated with aggregated data for 222 registries and 21 biobanks.