In accordance with the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative, researchers increasingly use relevant human-based samples for developing new drugs and diagnostics, but procuring those samples is one of the toughest challenges researchers face.

Through a partnership with a large European reference lab, SeraCare is providing researchers with access to 50,000 samples, which are processed daily and include more than 2000 test parameters. Hard-to-find patient samples involving rare tests or specific age groups are available.

All samples are ethically collected from a diverse patient population in compliance with HIPAA. Patient identity for all samples is deleted, although clinical data for most are available upon request.

‘This is for those researchers who want to minimize animal studies, or who have previously drawn samples from their lab colleagues, or who have simply been unable to find a clinician with whom they could work to access patient samples,’ says Tamara Smith, Senior Product Manager, SeraCare Life Sciences. ‘Our Global Patient Samples program makes it easy to acquire fully anonymized samples quickly and economically, and it represents an excellent extension to our existing portfolio of characterized disease state materials.’