Thermo Scientific Comprehensive Solutions for Biobanks and Biorepositories

"In today's organization, the silos of independent research have broken down and cross-disciplinary collaboration with peers is an imperative. This network extends externally to the organization since university hospitals, Pharma and biotech companies, contract research organizations and biobanks all need to work together. The extensive amounts of data, results and reports need to be collated from a variety of these collaborating partners. Adding to the complexity, the timely and accurate flow of information is essential," says Dave Champagne, vice president and general manager of Thermo Fisher Scientific* Informatics. "Our comprehensive turnkey biobanking portfolio demonstrates how Thermo Fisher delivers solutions that foster the collaboration and sharing that are essential to advance science and make life saving discoveries."

Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Thermo Fisher Scientific for its Superiority in the Global Biobanking Products, Services and Solutions Market Based on its recent analysis of the integrated biobanking solutions market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, with the 2011 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Company of the Year. Thermo Fisher is the world’s largest provider of biobanking products, services and solutions, enabling its customer to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. The Company provides best of breed cold storage equipment, centrifuges and rotors, consumables, liquid handling tools such as automated pipettes and market-leading informatics software for the biobanking industry. Its Fisher BioServices business offers end-to-end outsourced service solutions for biorepositories and biobanks.

Currently, there are no other market participants with such a diverse and cutting-edge portfolio for the biobanking industry. With an increasing trend toward automation and more effective solutions for storage and sample handling, Thermo Fisher’s offerings set out to meet the needs of both large- and small-scale organizations, from research organizations organizations and CROs to large biotech and pharmaceutical facilities worldwide. The company is an end-to-end biobanking resource, as it delivers software, sample handling and automation equipment, consumables, reagents and services. Due to its exceptional expertise in the area of informatics, the processes, including sample collection, processing, testing, storage and data management, can be managed seamlessly.

Read the full press release and learn more about Frost & Sullivan’s Company of the Year Awards.

Informatics Solutions for Biobanking

Biobanks play a critical role in the research information network and require an advanced laboratory information management system (LIMS) to manage biospecimen locations, online request management, data compliance and security, instrument integration, chain of custody and patient demographics and client billing. By optimizing logistical and operational support for researchers, a Thermo Scientific* LIMS* ensures that samples are available when and where needed. LIMS for Biobanks and Biorepositories enables an integrated research information network by improving sample management and facilitating flawless transmission of data between multiple laboratories, partner organizations and the FDA. Standardizing on a single LIMS solution across all collaborating organizations is a means of achieving easy data sharing and public access to findings.

If your business is concerned with the ongoing challenges related to biobanks or biorepositories – such as sample management and storage, chain of custody, traceability and shipping, patient privacy as well as scalability and collaboration - you might be asking yourself these questions:

• Where in the world are my samples and what has happened to them?
• Where do I store these tubes/boxes/plates?
• How do I query, search, request, approve and ship samples?
• How do I manage patient privacy and consent?
• How can I support and work with external partners and customers?

Thermo Scientific LIMS for Biobanks and Biorepositories is a vital component of our turnkey solution, offering laboratories the securities, interconnectivity, instrument integration and data management capabilities necessary to manage today's complex biobanks and biorepositories.

• Support for 2D barcoding ensures easy sample accession.
• Complex sample management and storage is simple through the sophisticated location management module.
• Chain of custody is easily tracked and managed.
• Online sample request and shipment management through WebAccess enables access to researchers and clinicians.
• Consent management can be associated with the primary biospecimen and all samples derived from it.
• Instrument integration is built in to simplify automation.
• Extensive plate management enables researchers to model their laboratory work through a graphical interface.
• Analytical data is unified with biospecimen data to provide a complete picture.
• Provides data compliance and security.

Learn how you can benefit from and a comprehensive informatics solution for biobanks and biorepositories by viewing collateral, published articles and customer case studies.

Advancing Translational Medicine: Dr Gyorgy Marko-Varga Interview 1 of 3

Dr Gyorgy Marko-Varga talks about the future of Translational Medicine and the challenges in going from lab bench experiments to predicting dose in man. Speaking at The 2nd Sino-American Symposium on Clinical and Translational Medicine in Shanghai, China, in June 2011, Dr. Marko-Varga highlights how mass spectrometry will play a key role in this arena. President of the European Proteomics Association and leading expert in his field, Dr Marko-Varga's current research is focused on the development of novel diagnostic assays and platforms, and interfacing high resolution separation with mass spectrometry, to build an understanding of the mode of drug action and disease mechanisms for lung cancer and COPD.

Biobanking and the Future of Translational Medicine: Dr Gyorgy Marko-Varga Interview 2 of 3

Dr Gyorgy Marko-Varga highlights how biobanking will be critical to realize the promise of Translational Medicine and what challenges we need to overcome quality hurdles going forward. Learn about Sweden's effort to build a world-class biobanking capability containing more than 100 million samples in the next ten years. President of the European Proteomics Association and leading expert in his field, Dr Marko-Varga's current research is focused on the development of novel diagnostic assays and platforms, and interfacing high resolution separation with mass spectrometry, to build an understanding of the mode of drug action and disease mechanisms for lung cancer and COPD.

The Future of Translational Medicine: Dr. Gyorgy Marko-Varga Interview 3 of 3

Speaking at The 2nd Sino-American Symposium on Clinical and Translational Medicine in Shanghai, China, in June 2011, Dr Gyorgy Marko-Varga highlights the challenges and opportunities of Translational Medicine and the effort to take data and knowledge gained in the lab to actually guiding drug selection and optimal dose. Technology driven companies as Thermo Fisher Scientific can benefit patients mostly by collaborating with front scientists from the disease pathology throughout the development and the clinical area.

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Collaborating to Create a Comprehensive Turnkey Biobanking Solution 

Within the organization the silos of independent research have broken down and cross-disciplinary collaboration with peers is an imperative. This network extends exponentially since it’s necessary to collaborate with university hospitals, Pharma and biotech companies, contract research organizations and biobanks all around the world. The extensive amounts of data, results and reports need to be collated from a variety of these collaborating partners. Adding to the complexity - the timely and accurate flow of information, all in various formats, is essential. This complex Information Network needs a centralized system to manage all of the samples and information – not a trivial task especially since information is kept in different formats and is not easily translated. Overcoming these challenges requires a comprehensive toolset to bridge the gap.

Integrated Biospecimen Tracking, Search and Request Management
To drive life science research and discovery forward, accurate, compliant and efficient management of biospecimens is critical. Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS* is specifically designed to address the unique challenges of specimen collection, tracking, and storage for pharmaceutical discovery and clinical operations, academic and biosciences, research centers, medical institutions and contract research organizations. In this webinar you will learn more about the following topics: Complex Sample Management, Chain of Custody, Request Management, Consent Management, Instrument Integration and Automation, and Data Compliance and Security.

Making complex data understandable and accessible at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to enable Translational Research
The challenge of making complex data understandable and accessible to biomedical researchers is common across a variety of domains. Informatics organizations need to enable investigators to take advantage of exponential growth in volume and complexity of data sets available from sophisticated electronic health records and next-generation genomic sequencing technologies. To that end, this webinar discussed Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's (CHOP) recent deployment of an enterprise-class Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and how they partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop new functionality to advance clinical and translational research. It also described CHOP's opt-in approach to user adoption and best practices for implementation of informatics solutions in this environment.

Meeting today's complex integration and dynamic workflow challenges in the Clinical and Molecular diagnostics laboratory
Today's demanding business climate combined with the critical need in the field of personalized medicine to support the rapid delivery of results from the lab directly to the patient's bedside has dramatically increased the informatics integration and workflow challenges in molecular diagnostic labs. This presentation offers a complete solution that addresses several factors that are driving the requirements for the optimal integration of laboratory informatics solutions with the enterprise that can also be configured to facilitate dynamic workflow environments.

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HUNT Biobank Implements Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS to Manage Medical Data (PDF 4.08 MB)

The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) is one of the largest population-based health studies ever performed. Spanning almost 25 years, HUNT now represents an integrated family and personal database of approximately 100,000 people from Nord-Trøndelag County, Norway. To accommodate for the vast scope of this project, HUNT chose Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS to gather, store, manage, track and retrieve material securely, and be capable of yielding real-time, dependable analysis and reports.

Effectively Storing and Analyzing Biological Data at UK Biobank (PDF 516 KB)

UK Biobank chose Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS™ to track, store, manage and report on the biological data of 500,000 people as part of one of the largest medical research projects ever conducted. UK Biobank is a major medical research initiative based in Manchester, UK. The company's goal is to build the world's most detailed information resource that can support a diverse range of research aimed at improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses and to promote health throughout society.

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The Cure for your Biobanking Informatics Challenges: Illustrating Benefits of Integrating Comprehensive Solutions for Biobanks

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How HUNT Biobank built a better mousetrap (PDF 5.2 MB)
ISBER Newsletter, April 2012

Laying the Foundation for Next-Gen Cancer Diagnostics: Foundation Medicine prepares to apply NGS for Individualized cancer care
BioIT World, February 2012

Bench to Bedside: Trish Meek at Thermo Fisher Scientific and Dennis Fallon at Fisher BioServices look at creating a next-generation research information network to advance medicinal breakthroughs (PDF 41 kb)
European Biopharmaceutical Review October 2010

Advancing the Lab? Look to LIMS (PDF 368 KB)
Future Pharmaceuticals, March 2010

Integrating Informatics and High-Content Screening to Find a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury (PDF 2.37 MB)
American Laboratory, January 2010

The LIMS Effect - How LIMS Can Help Meet Regulatory Requirements and Improve Operational Quality (PDF 437 KB)
European Biopharmaceutical Review, 2009

Centralization of Biochemical Screening at AstraZeneca
Life Science Leader, June 2009

LIMS Streamlines Translational Science (PDF 1 MB)
Genetic Engineering News (GEN), May 2009

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Global Integrated Biobanking Solutions Company of the Year Award: Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Thermo Fisher Scientific for its Superiority in the Global Biobanking Products, Services and Solutions Market. Unlike competitors, the company offers comprehensive biobanking products, services and solutions aimed at improving quality and simplifying the management of biobanks. Read more about the Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award and Thermo Fisher Integrated Biobanking Solutions.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Recognized by Computerworld as a 2011 Honors Laureate for Visionary Application of Information Technology for it's work with HUNT Research Centre in implementing a next-generation Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to automate processes from the clinic to the laboratory. Read more about the Computerworld Honors recognition. 

Thermo Fisher Scientific receives Microsoft 2010 Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation Award for work with Emory University, which implemented Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS as part of an enterprise biospecimen management system rollout to enhance workflow, foster collaboration and effectively manage samples. Standardization of its Informatics infrastructure can easily be replicated across multiple research institutes, helping facilitate advances in translational science. Read more about the work at Emory and the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI).

AstraZeneca implements Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS to centralize biochemical screenings, map laboratory workflows and dramatically drive efficiency through superior data management and is wins 2008 Microsoft Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation Award. Read about how AstraZeneca is bridging the gap between research, discovery and drug delivery.

Read more about our industry awards and recognition. 

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Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS for Biobanking and Biorepository Management (PDF 524 KB)

Thermo Scientific Nautilus LIMS - Information Management for Dynamic Environments (PDF 1.02 MB)

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Our comprehensive solutions are designed to address the unique and complex needs of biobanks and biorepositories while offering scalability and efficiency to organizations of all size, from university research labs to large scale pharmaceutical and biotechnology setting to clinical trials and population based studies. We deliver the software, equipment, consumables, reagents, and services to provide the end-to-end solution required for today's rapidly changing organizations. Our integrated turnkey biobanking portfolio is a comprehensive solution set that encompasses everything from sample preparation (centrifuges and laminar flow cabinets), to liquid handling equipment (pipettes, automated liquid handling), to cold storage devices (freezers and cryogenic storage). In addition, we have the consumables and reagents biobanks need to prepare, analyze and store their samples. Also included in this offering is laboratory equipment such as mass spectrometers and robotics to automate the biobanking process. In addition to laboratory equipment and software, we offer a full range of biorepository services. Fisher BioServices is the world's largest biorepository, managing over 170,000,000 samples in facilities around the world. From a sample management standpoint, we care for over 1 billion samples, ship and receive of over 2 million samples annually and conduct over 75 client, government and regulatory agency audits annually.

Fisher BioServices can save you the time and capital investment needed to build your biobank. We provide, in partnership with our sister companies, complete biobanking solutions, tailored to your goals. Whether you use our facilities or your own, we leverage our position within Thermo Fisher Scientific for pricing advantages on the equipment and consumables you need. Our in-house experts provide validations, temperature mapping, calibrations, qualifications, maintenance, and QA oversight. For more information, visit www.fisherbioservices.com.

Mass Spectrometry: Industry-leading mass spectrometry solutions including GC-MS, LC-MS, and Isotope Ratio MS instruments combined with proven application-specific software to solve a range of analytical challenges in both research and routine laboratories. We offer powerful solutions that deliver precise data, more efficiently and faster than ever before. For more information, please visit our website.

Cold Storage and Freezers: Researchers worldwide protect more than two billion samples inside Thermo Scientific cold-storage equipment. Our proven cold storage sample protection solutions from +4C high performance lab refrigerators to -196C cryogenic freezers. As a responsible manufacturer we are also thinking of the environment and have one of the most energy efficient freezers - using up to 40% less energy than conventional freezers.

Sample Collection and Storage: Integral 2D BarCoded Tubes and 2D Readers: offering a unique identifier for all samples, the barcode scanner software is fully embedded and integrated with Thermo Scientific LIMS, allowing for a more streamlined workflow as well as automated data management for all samples.

Manual and Automated Liquid Handling: We offer a broad range of laboratory consumables, handheld and automated pipetting systems with a reputation for combining simplicity, comfort and functionality with superior ergonomic design. A unique design specifically reduces user stress and optimizes pipetting performance so that users can set the volumes they need quickly, and focus on their work. Due to extensive R&D and feedback from the field, our pipettes are the preferred choice for optimal liquid handling results.

Informatics Solutions for Biobanks and Biorepositories: Our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for Biobanks is specifically designed to address the unique challenges of managing biospecimen collection, locations, online requests including consent management and request management, chain of custody, data compliance and security, instrument integration and automation, and even client billing.

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Learn More: If you would like to learn more about our informatics offerings for biobanks and biorepositories, please visit www.thermoscientific.com/biobanking or contact us at marketing.informatics@thermofisher.com, 1-800-395-5467 (US) or + 44 161 942 3000 (Int.).