Why use Accio Biobank Online ? - Accio Biobank Online

Quality service, individual attention

We work with experienced high quality facilities, most of which are located in the US, in order to access a diverse range of human biosample types, with the potential to organize prospective collections, where existing biorepositories do not hold the samples you require. Your project will receive our individual attention and we always endeavour to be as flexible as possible in order to meet your needs. We understand that technical requirements may shift in light of research results and will work with you to maximize the suitability of the tissue samples you receive. We want to maximize the quality and utility of the specimens you receive, so that your research and development efforts succeed in improving human health.

A trusted source

We are trusted by many companies, including some of the world’s largest and most successful pharmaceutical firms, as well as highly regarded academic centers, to source high quality human tissue and blood samples and data for their basic/exploratory and discovery-stage studies, translational research and validation projects.

Accio Biobank Online is also a member of two international professional biobanking organizations:

– ISBER: the International Society for Biological & Environmental Respositories

– ESBB: the European, Middle Eastern and African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking.

Responsibly collected

Our partner repositories ensure that donor confidentiality is respected by deidentifying patient data. Samples are ethically collected, in accordance with the relevant regulations and laws. Informed consent is provided by the donor or their next of kin, where applicable. Where informed consent is not in place (for example, because the samples are archival/ surplus to diagnostic purposes and is not therefore required), IRB approval may be requested, if this is required, depending on the governance or regulations in place.

We are transparent about the dedicated sites we work with and are proud to encourage researchers to join us in direct, in depth technical discussions with the tissue recovery and research managers at our partner sites. This ensures that all aspects of your project are fully understood and agreed in advance, maximizing the quality and utility of the specimens provided for your experiments. This is one of the ways in which we are different from other human specimen sources. Another advantage of our uniquely transparent and open approach is that there is no risk of you mistakenly sourcing the same specimens twice.

Expert sites

Our expert clinical biorepositories have access to high quality pathology services and exceptionally in-depth data is available. This data can include clinical history, pathology reports, medications, comorbidities and facilitates in-depth donor screening and the extraction of very detailed data from clinical notes. Multiple sample formats (fresh, frozen, FFPE, plasma, serum, whole blood, buffy coat) may be available from each patient, and across multiple time points, where appropriate.

Our dedicated whole body donor facilities work hard to provide a high quality service 24/7 with several tissue/organ formats available, with times from death to sampling that can be as low as 3 hours.

Convenient

We act as a single and convenient point of access and professional project management service across a huge range of project types and collection types. We are happy to use our experience and expertise to work with you to help you to figure out exactly which types of human samples, and what kind of data, you need in order to maximize the impact and value of your work. We can also advise you on how to amend your criteria in order to increase the speed of collection, reduce collection costs & assist with paperwork where needed.

A wide range of samples are available

Samples from a wide range of diseases are available or can be collected, including:

Cancer

Infectious

Inflammatory

Metabolic, Degenerative and others…

Please also see:

Organs/anatomical parts

Fresh tissues

Frozen tissues

FFPE or formaldehyde-fixed tissues

Locations:

We work with high quality facilities, most of which are located in the US, but also the UK and Eastern Europe.

We ship internationally.

Why human biosamples?

There is no substitute for using real patients’ samples, organs and anatomical parts to ensure your results can be applied to the clinic. Our goal is to ensure you have the samples you need for essential in vitro pre-clinical & translational studies including biomarker programs, FDA /EMEA cross-reactivity panels, assay development, discovery projects, target validation, in vitro pharmacology, tissue and cell-based assays for efficacy & ADMET safety/ toxicology and medical device development, testing, training and demonstration.

Human biological samples help to ensure the relevance, safety & efficacy of pharmaceutical/ biopharmaceutical drugs, devices, diagnostics, biomarkers, cosmetics & chemicals (incl. REACH, EU Cosmetics Directive and US EPA HPV (High Production Volume) programs) in the biotech & pharma industries.

Human organs and tissues are invaluable tools for medical and biological education and training, particularly at universities and on respectful and informative display at museums.

Human anatomical parts also play an essential role in forensic research.

Publications:

The latest peer-reviewed review articles lead-authored by Director, Margaret Clotworthy PhD, may be of interest. Dr Clotworthy has also co-authored peer-reviewed publications on the ethics, organization & public acceptability of biobanking.

1. Advances in the development and use of human tissue-based

techniques for drug toxicity testing, Expert Opinion on Drug

Metabolism & Toxicology, May 2013.

2.The application of human tissue for drug discovery and

development, Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, July 2012.

Many of the specimens we provide go to support commercially sensitive research at companies developing the next generation of drugs and diagnostics, so research results are not always published. However, here are examples of papers where academic researchers have published exciting work using our samples:

Ultra-sensitive sequencing for cancer detection reveals progressive clonal selection in normal tissue over a century of human lifespan:

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2018/11/04/457291.full.pdf

Congratulations to Jesse Salk, Rosana Risques and all of the contributing researchers on such important & insightful work, to be published in full later this year!

Other interesting articles, not associated with Tissue For Research:

An interesting discussion of the use of in vitro-generated antibodies and similar affinity reagents, including comparisons and discussion of the technical benefits of some of these approaches: http://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/fulltext/S0167-7799(16)30063-4

Please note: we provide human biosamples for medical, forensic, cosmetic and chemical research, education and training only by researchers and educators in commercial companies, academic centers and museums. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist with any inquiries relating to tissue samples for in vivo experiments or clinical use. We can not provide tissue samples for transplant as the human tissues we provide are unsuitable and unauthorized for this use. Please also note that we provide exclusively human tissues, for patient-relevant research, and do not provide samples from any other species. Unfortunately, we can not accept tissues directly from donors; if you are interested in donating specimens, please discuss ways of donating with your hospital or hospice, who will be better placed to provide information about local donation options.