Read about our latest medical research use cases and find inspiration for your future projects.
News
Finnish Biobanks – FINBB and Phenome Health, a US non-profit organization, have signed a strategic collaboration agreement and jointly agreed to collaborate to advance medical research in Finland.
Use cases
At the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), as part of an ongoing UEF Brain Research Unit 2.0 ERDF project (UEF BRU 2.0) an operating model is created and tested to identify people with underlying functional genetic variant associated with brain diseases, including frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The operating model is built in cooperation with the Biobank of Eastern Finland, UEF Genome Center, UEF Brain Research Unit, and the research groups of UEF.
Owkin, the first end-to-end AI-BioTech unicorn startup that provides best-in-class AI-driven precision drug discovery, development, and diagnostics, and Finnish Biobank Cooperative – FINBB are pleased to announce their collaboration to advance medical research.
GENEROOS is a study that aims to determine the role of genetics in weight loss. In other words, can some people lose weight more easily than others because of their genetic background? To achieve this, ~1200 participants were recontacted to participate in the study by the Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere (FCBT).
The GenomeHealth project, a national initiative to explore the utilization of genomic information accumulated in biobank operations in healthcare, was launched in Finland’s hospital biobanks in the fall of 2021. The aim of the project was to examine the use of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array genotyping data for identification of rare genetic variants, study the significance of genetic information for the biobank sample donor, and to build a process for utilizing genomic data at the individual level.
The Finnish Biobank Act allows Finnish biobanks to contact consented sample donors and invite them to participate in studies, including surveys. To facilitate the contacting process and to enable the execution of surveys online, a digital platform called MyBiobank has been launched by Finnish Biobank Cooperative -FINBB together with Finnish biobanks, hospital districts and the FinnGen research project.
Events
On Sept 30th, 2024, more than 400 professionals from pharma, biotech, and academia from all over the world joined the Symposium organized by Finnish Biobank Cooperative – FINBB and Fingenious®. The Symposium offered an insightful dive into biomedical research in collaboration with Finnish biobanks, with a spectrum of real-life cases in neurology, immunology, oncology, ophthalmology, and rare diseases. Free recording and Symposium content available – Watch the Symposium now!
Ecosystem
Accurate data linkage from different sources is essential for generating comprehensive data sets for biomedical research. In Finland, all citizens have a unique personal ID code, which allows for reliably combining individual-level data from various data sources. The system was introduced already in the 1960s, and today, it benefits researchers who collect longitudinal data from multiple Finnish registers.
FINBB opens a call to select the biobank research project of year. The call is open between 23 October - 8 November 2023.
Biomedical research relies on a wide range of data sources to provide insights into healthcare outcomes and treatment effectiveness in real-world settings. Finnish medical registers and biobanks hold vast amounts of valuable data that can be effectively combined on an individual level. In addition, the geographical isolation of Finns has resulted in a shared unique genetic heritage, creating excellent conditions for genetic research.
Regulatory compliance is a critical element of successful RWE research. In Finland, up-to-date national legislation ensures that healthcare data in Finnish registers can be used for new scientific innovation. The current regulations allow for easier and more efficient use of social welfare and health data in research and development.
The Fingenious Ecosystem’s fourth national event was held on Thursday, 2 November 2023. Some of the best specialists in their field spoke about the latest Finnish RWE research opportunities. Browse photos and videos from the event and find out what the Fingenious Ecosystem can offer for your research.
Finnish Biobank Cooperative – FINBB has submitted an initiative to Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen to improve equal treatment of patients with rare diseases in Finland. Should the initiative pass, companies could apply for a higher special rate of reimbursement for orphan drugs that are used in treating patients with rare diseases. Currently, the higher special rate of reimbursement can be applied only to some orphan drugs.
Biogen has initiated a research project with Finnish biobanks and Finnish Biobank Cooperative – FINBB to further validate genes at the complement factor H (CFH) gene locus by combining unique Finnish genetic data from the FinnGen study with proteomic data.
The team at Auria Biobank, part of Turku University Hospital’s Laboratory Division, have achieved ISO 20387:2020 accreditation. This makes Auria the fourth BBMRI-ERIC member biobank to demonstrate quality to this international standard.
Join Clinical Development, Medical Affairs and Global Strategy colleagues for a hands-on and highly interactive event in Basel to explore and discover unique opportunities due to the unique Finnish data ecosystem.
Finnish Biobanks – FINBB and Novartis, a global pharmaceutical company, have signed a master service agreement and jointly agreed to collaborate to advance medical research in Finland.
TriNetX, LLC, the global network of healthcare organizations driving real-world research to accelerate the development of new therapies, today announced that Finnish Biobanks (FINBB), a cooperative owned by the six largest hospital districts and universities in Finland and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, has joined the TriNetX Network.
Finnish Biobanks – FINBB has entered a new partnership with aiwell Inc., a company focused on AI proteomics and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. aiwell Inc.'s goal is to identify new biomarkers for various diseases, such as depression and cancer.
The event offers for the very first time an opportunity to get acquainted with what Finland has to offer for biomedical research as a One-stop-Service.
A serious or life-threatening rare disease affect more than 300 million people around the world. Approximately 7,000 rare diseases have been identified worldwide, but treatments are available for just over a hundred of them.
Finnish Biobanks – FINBB announces a research agreement with Roche. The goal of the research agreement is to generate insights to inform drug development and/or to advance practices for personalized medicine.
Use case: Biobank of Eastern Finland. By combining information on people’s lifestyles, genes and risk factors for chronic diseases, it is possible to develop increasingly effective and personalised services for the prevention of diseases. At the University of Eastern Finland, a new study has started among people who have given their consent to donate samples to the Biobank of Eastern Finland.
Biobank Borealis use case: Maternal Vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for Offspring Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by disrupted social interactions, impaired language, stereotypic and repetitive behavior with different degrees of severity.
Tampere Biobank use case: New tools for improving management of patients with hematological malignancies by combining patient clinical data, innovative laboratory analyses on tissue samples deposited in the biobank from these patients and AI algorithms.
THL Biobank use case: lifestyle and genetic factors are associated with an increased risk of liver disease at population level as shown by studies utilizing well characterized, large population-based cohorts of THL Biobank combined with data from national Finnish registers.
Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotechnology company, has initiated a research project with Finnish biobanks and Finnish Biobank Cooperative - FINBB to utilize Finnish biobank samples for development and validation of immunosequencing-based clinical testing for autoimmune disorders, such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
THL Biobank use case: To validate the use of their NMR spectroscopy technique in accurate prediction of risk for common diseases, such as heart disease, and preventive healthcare, Nightingale Health Ltd has analyzed serum samples from 40,000 sample donors of THL Biobank.
Large genome data collections are important for the effects of genes to begin to show in analyses. Therefore, genome data returned to the biobanks from research projects such as FinnGen and available via Fingenious service are of utmost importance for new scientific discoveries.
Finnish biobanks and Finnish Biobank Cooperative - FINBB have initiated a collaboration with Bayer AG enabling the global use of biobank samples in Bayer’s medical research. The aim of the collaboration is the mutual interest to enhance medical research and product development.
THL Biobank is one of the seven public biobanks that is part of the one-stop Fingenious® service managed by Finnish Biobank Cooperative -FINBB. The unique collections and services of THL Biobank are now presented with illustrations on Fingenious® website.
Tampere Biobank use case: biobank sample donors are recontacted to invite participants for a study investigating the characteristics of the epigenetic clock and developing tools for monitoring the aging of the immune system.
Helsinki Biobank use case: IndiviStatB1 study combines data from the biobanks and national registers and will bring insight into the effect of genetic factors on efficacy and tolerability of statins, the most commonly used cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Biobank Borealis use case: Vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for developing MS both in the mother and the offspring
February 28 is the World Rare Disease Day. Professor Pentti Tienari shares his outstanding research in understanding the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Biobank Borealis use case: method development for early cancer detection in tissues
Assessment of the Prevalence of Complement Factor I Gene Variants in Individuals with Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) in Finland
14.1.2021 (This event will be held only in Finnish)
A first-time venture that benefits from the unique possibility of recontacting biobank sample donors
Fingenious use case video on glaucoma, Ophthalmologist Joni Turunen
Auria Biobank use case: Machine-learning model in prediction of nodal stage in breast cancer
THL Biobank use case: Recontacting sample donors for a study on NAFLD
FINBB and Finnish Biobank Sample Collections and Services Aid APECED Research
Biobank of Eastern Finland use case: Recontacting sample donors to study progression of type 2 diabetes
Fingenious use case video: polygenic and clinical risk scores, Professor Samuli Ripatti
FINBB becomes a FinnGen partner and is assigned a vital role in development of a domestic biomedical research ecosystem
