EU biobank battle begins

The Netherlands and Luxembourg are competing to become the world’s bio banking research hub.

The Netherlands and Luxembourg are battling to host the European biobanking and bimolecular research Infrastructure (BBMRI).

The BBMRI was set up with an initial budget of €5m from the European Commission to improve, join and coordinate more than 100 biobanks from different countries. The projects ultimate aim is to establish a large scale network to enable the sharing and access to human biological samples across Europe.

Under regulations offering favourable legal status to pan-European projects, the BBMRI must base its headquarters in only one member state. However a final decision on where it will be is in the process of being made.

Last month the Dutch government awarded €22.5m to establish a national biobanking infrastructure in a project that brings together several other research institutes and initiatives.

However, the government in Luxembourg has also announced that it will provide €140m for a five-year project which will enable experts there to team-up with a biotechnology company in Arizona called TGen.

Earlier this year, US Senator John McCain visited Luxembourg to meet with senior officials to lobby for closer ties between his state and Luxembourg in the biotech sector.

TGen and Luxembourg are jointly developing computer software that will help track and link tissue samples with patients for research. The tissue bank will serve as an international repository, analysis and distribution point for blood, serum, saliva, tumours and other samples, which will be made available to scientists

The BBMRI project is gaining significant interest from research projects from around the world, particularly from the US, where the biotech sector is heavily regulated.

Earlier this year the initiative became the first to benefit from VAT-free status in the EU under a new regulation agreed by EU leaders. The project is likely to cost around €170m by the time it is completed.

Link

BBMRI