Washington, D.C. — FasterCures today announced it will build and maintain BioBank Central, a web-based portal that will connect all the constituencies in the global biobank world: researchers; academic medical centers; biobank managers; tool and product providers; patients; ethicists; government agencies; and the public. The project is sponsored by IBM, Invitrogen, Affymetrix, and Bioaccelerate.
"BioBank Central will promote and facilitate collaboration and discovery in the scientific community," said FasterCures President Greg Simon. "And it will provide patients and their families with information about how they can accelerate the development of new cures for diseases by donating blood and tissue for medical research."
"BioBank Central is unique in the breadth of constituencies that it addresses: the scientific, clinical, and patient communities, the hospital and academic sector, policy-makers and the public," Simon continued. "Since biobanks are a key resource for the emergence of genomic medicine, this is indeed an area where collaborations among all stakeholders in the community are essential."
Comprised of large numbers of high-quality biospecimens supplemented with clinical data, biobanks — also called biorepositories or tissue banks — can harness the power of both genomic and clinical information and serve as a bridge between basic and applied research.
As science and technology leaders work to address the many challenges facing U.S. biobanks — logistical, technical, ethical, financial, intellectual property, and IT — BioBank Central will serve as an accurate and timely source of knowledge and news about biorepositories and their role in research and drug development.
It will also link researchers with resources, encourage the donation of specimens, educate the public about the advancements that could come from the study of biological materials, accelerate the discovery and development of new diagnostics and therapeutics and enable the biorepository community to collaborate on implementing best practices and promising approaches to advance the field.
The web site, to be built in partnership with Feinstein Kean Healthcare, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will provide a working group venue, patient and public education programs, an international collaboration component and serve as a forum for debate. The portal will be available for use in coming weeks.
About IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences:
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with more than 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences brings together IBM resources, including information technology, deep industry insights, and research expertise, to help clients develop and deliver safer, more affordable and more effective diagnostics, drugs and medical care.
About Invitrogen:
Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq: IVGN) provides products and services that support academic and government research institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide in their efforts to improve the human condition. The company provides essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction. Invitrogen's own research and development efforts are focused on breakthrough innovation in all major areas of biological discovery including functional genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and cell biology — placing Invitrogen's products in nearly every major laboratory in the world. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The company globally employs approximately 4,500 scientists and other professionals and had revenues of more than $1 billion in 2004. For more information, visit www.invitrogen.com.
About Affymetrix:
Affymetrix scientists invented the world's first high-density microarray in 1989 and began selling the first commercial microarray in 1994. Since then, Affymetrix GeneChip(R) technology has become the industry standard in molecular biology research. Affymetrix technology is used by the world's top pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies as well as leading academic, government and not-for-profit research institutes. More than 1,300 systems have been installed around the world and nearly 3,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published using the technology. Affymetrix' patented photolithographic manufacturing process provides the most information capacity available today on an array, enabling researchers to use a whole-genome approach to analyzing the relationship between genetics and health. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with manufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif., and Bedford, Mass. The company maintains important sales and marketing operations in Europe and Asia and has about 1,000 employees worldwide. For more information, please visit www.Affymetrix.com.
About Bioaccelerate:
Bioaccelerate Holdings Inc. is a pharmaceutical development organization ("PDO") that seeks to acquire, develop and commercialize novel pharmaceutical compounds in an efficient, cost-effective way. Bioaccelerate uses its broad network of academic, industry and capital market relationships to expedite drug development and raise capital to create and fund its subsidiary companies, which are organized by vertical portfolios in five therapeutic areas: oncology, specialty pharmaceuticals, central nervous system disorders (CNS), cardiovascular disease and anti-infectives.
About Feinstein Kean Healthcare:
Feinstein Kean Healthcare, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, specializes in integrated corporate and product communications for life sciences and healthcare companies and organizations. The firm's Molecular Medicine practice serves the governmental, academic, and private sector organizations that are driving the new generation of technologies and products to transform health care in the 21st century. Feinstein Kean clients include emerging biopharmaceutical companies; four of the world's five largest pharmaceutical companies; government agencies; and policy organizations. For more information, visit: www.fkhealth.com.
About FasterCures:
FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions is committed to accelerating the medical research process to find new treatments for deadly and debilitating diseases. FasterCures was founded by Mike Milken as an initiative of the Milken Institute and is nonpartisan, nonprofit and independent of interest groups. The board of directors includes Mike Milken, Nobel laureates David Baltimore and Gary Becker and Nancy Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information, visit www.fastercures.org.