Europe’s first tissue bank for women launches in Liverpool

Europe’s first private, women’s health tissue bank has been launched by Liverpool-based laboratory and medical education provider BioGrad, backed by a £25m investment.

The new tissue bank will work to investigate treatments and cures for women’s health conditions such as menopause, endometriosis, cancers, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), according to reports.

The bank aims to accelerate stem cell and immunotherapy research, potentially driving “groundbreaking” discoveries.

Based in Wavertree Technology Park, Liverpool, the BioGrad Research Tissue Bank has ethical approval to recruit donors and create libraries of samples, according to Dr Natalie Kenny, CEO of BioGrad Group. Samples can be donated anonymously to the bank, which will be made available for university researchers and NHS trusts across the UK.

The company is now building an app alongside the tissue bank to enable donors to see how their samples are used.

“This makes research cheaper and much easier to conduct, which in turn makes diagnostic tests and treatments faster and cheaper to develop,” Kenny said.

“One of the biggest barriers to women’s health research is the lack of biobanks with women’s samples and ethical approval for utilising these samples outside of the narrow confines of the original study.

“We are already working with NHS trusts to collect samples for research, however the real focus of the bank is improving women’s health, collecting samples to improve research on conditions such as endometriosis, menopause and pregnancy loss.”

BioGrad will soon be calling on women across the country to donate samples for research, including menstrual blood, umbilical bord blood and tissue, peripheral blood, urine, saliva, nose and throat swabs, vaginal swabs, rectal or stoma swabs and breast milk.

Donors will be reimbursed for their contributions, and will be able to collect samples using BioGrad’s at-home collection kits or at the BioGrad clinic.

“Not only will this act as a rich resource in the Liverpool City Region, it will also provide additional skilled jobs in the Wavertree area,” Kenny said.