Unique resource

Large and representative donor pool

Our blood donors, who are representative of the general Bavarian population *, form the basis of the “Blood Donor BIOBANK”. The large pool of more than 400,000 active blood donors enables the identification of several thousands of diseased biobank participants per year. Because most donors are strongly committed to the BRK Blood Donor Service, additional medical or socio-demographic data may also be collected.

The innovation: serial, pre-diagnostic plasma samples from blood donors with diseases

For the first time, numerous blood samples may be examined from one person, which were taken and stored before the diagnosis of a disease. This research approach is especially suitable for investigating markers associated with the onset and progression of disease. Such biomarkers are gaining more and more importance in early diagnosis and specific treatment of diseases. The samples of the Biobank of Blood Donors are also a valuable for the research in the field of liquid biopsy diagnostics.

Up to now, samples from patients have been compared to a healthy reference group when examining biomarkers. The “Blood Donor BIOBANK” facilitates a completely new research approach:
The search for changes in the blood which are detectable before the manifestation of symptoms.
On average there are 2 serial plasma samples per year available from every BIOBANK participant. The frequently short time span between sampling facilitates kinetic analyses.

Standardised reference panels of plasma samples of healthy blood donors

Diagnostic tests are essential for the early stage diagnosis and the confirmation of disease or to measure therapeutic success. To research and develop of diagnostic tools biological sample material from patients is required and is usually compared to samples from a healthy reference group. Researchers in academia and industry typically have access to routine clinical patient samples but often lack samples from healthy individuals.

The selection of the blood donors and the processing of the samples are carried out under strictly controlled conditions meeting national and international standards (FDA, GMP). Thus a high quality is assured - an essential requirement for clinical development.
The reference samples are processed directly after blood withdrawal, temporarily stored at 4°C, aliquoted and cryo-stored at -80°C. This preserves the physiological status of the samples.

The samples are assembled for different applications
(Plasma^Ref Panels):

A cross section of the population and age- and genderspecific reference panels are available. The samples are provided with basic data of the blood donors (age group, sex). Panels can be custom designed for specific enquiries or additional data (BMI, smoking) can be collected.

• Overview of pre-assembled panels

In addition to the reference panels the BIOBANK also maintains retrospective samples of blood donors who have been diagnosed with a severe disease. Researchers of diagnostics in the field of oncology, cardiovascular diseases or diabetes can contact the BIOBANK with their specific requests. The plasma samples of diseased blood donors are project specifically complemented with socio-demographically relevant samples of healthy blood donors.

We also offer further blood products on request like e.g. whole blood, erythrocyte concentrates, serum, buffy coats etc

Reference: * BSD Health Study 2009