Finland provides unique benefits for researchers and companies

Finland has it all: unique biospecimen and biodata, the needed governance, regulation, infrastructure, expertise, and proven track-record of state-of-the-art biomedical research collaboration.

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Finland has a lot to offer for biobank research

Finns share a unique genetic heritage due to geographic isolation which allows faster and more effective analysis of genomic data compared to populations of more heterogeneous origins.

World-class genomic data

Finnish biobanks have joined together in a large nationwide FinnGen research project which will generate a vast amount of genome data from up to 500,000 (every tenth Finnish resident) biobank samples by 2023. All sample-related genome data generated in the project can be further used in subsequent biobank projects.

Discover the research possibilities that Finland's unique gene variants and population-wide registers can offer

Well-functioning healthcare system

The entire population is covered with longitudinal electronic health records and a personal identification code. The unique identification codes enable linking of the biobank samples to deep phenotypic data, such as medical records, as well as genomic data and the national registries.

Up-to-date legislation

The research-promoting Biobank Act (2013) secures the rights of the donor and authorizes the collection of samples and biodata with the donor’s consent to be saved in biobanks and used for future research purposes. The Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data (2019) facilitates effective and safe processing and access to social and health services data.

Possibility for recontacting sample donors

Sample donors who have given prior consent to be contacted can be invited for further studies. This provides an opportunity for survey studies and targeted patient recruitment for clinical trials.

National commitment

Significant public funds have been invested in health research in Finland. The Finnish government has published the Health Sector Growth Strategy for Research and Innovation, and the biobank ecosystem is at the core of the Strategy.

Research-engaged people

Finns trust researchers and the Finnish healthcare system. Therefore, they are willing to participate in public screening programs and to donate their samples to biobanks.

1. Carpén, O, & Hautalahti, M. (2019). Suomalainen biopankki on potilaita varten. Duodecim, 135(10), 971-2.

2. European Commission. Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2021. Thematic chapters.

3. Wallace, N. & Castro. D. (2017). The State of Data Innovation in the EU. Center of Data Innovation.

4. Schwab, K. & Zahidi, S. (2020). How Countries are Performing on the Road to Recovery. The Global Competitiveness Report. World economic forum. Special Edition.

5. Frost & Sullivan (2020). Future Watch: Global Biobanking Market Landscape. Business Finland.

6. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2022). https://stm.fi/en/personalized-medicine

7. Finlex (2012). https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2012/20120688.

8. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2019). Act on the secondary use of health and social data. https://stm.fi/en/secondary-use-of-health-and-social-data.

9. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2022). https://stm.fi/en/genome-center.

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News & Updates

Ecosystem

Combining data from different registries for research purposes in Finland - The lymphoma study combined data from six data controllers

Finland offers a unique and advantageous environment for conducting real-world evidence (RWE) studies. Data retrieved from the Finnish health and social care registries may be more representative compared to other countries. Therefore, Finland is a strong option when weighing in which country the research would be carried out in. This article by Medaffcon presents a multiregistry study combining health and social data.

Ecosystem

Post-licensure vaccine study expertise in Finland: case FVR

Fingenious® Ecosystem Partner, FVR – Finnish Vaccine Research Ltd., a special-assignment company of the Finnish state, conducts commercial vaccine studies in phases 1-4 with decades of experience and internationally recognized, high-quality scientific expertise. In addition to clinical vaccine trials, FVR has extensive experience in conducting phase 4 observational vaccine studies (RWE) and pragmatic clinical trials for evaluating vaccine effectiveness, safety, and disease burden. Explore FVR examples of post-licensure studies.

Use cases

T and B cell receptor repertoire in autoimmune diseases - a unique immunoSEQ® dataset available for researchers

In collaboration with FINBB, Adaptive Biotechnologies has been working with biobanks across Finland. The focus was on studying large number of blood samples to discover and validate TCR signatures specific to various autoimmune diseases. Working with FINBB through Fingenious® has allowed Adaptive to identify useful cohorts of patient samples. The Finnish homogenous population provides a unique opportunity to find different signals related to autoimmune diseases. Now the returned data for large-scale sequencing of T- and B-cell receptors is a valuable dataset for many researchers. It can be requested from Fingenious® for other studies.