December 20, 2023
One Health Trust’s Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan, Dr. Deepshikha Batheja, and Srishti Goel co-authored a study that estimated the economic value of various attributes of biobanks. Using a conjoint analysis methodology, they assessed 78 researchers’ perceived value of attributes such as handling fees, breadth of consent, time taken to fulfill requests, availability of specimens, confidence in the quality of specimens, and access to key endemic in-country sites. They found that respondents primarily preferred a biobank that provides confidence in the quality of the specimens with a 26 percent higher ranking of such biobanks compared to the mean (p-value < 0.001). The second-most preferred attribute of biobanks was the availability of well-characterized specimens with a 20.4 to 20.9 percent higher ranking relative to the mean (p < 0.001). Notably, researchers with prior experience acquiring bio-samples were more sensitive to biobanks’ handling fees, which aligns with existing concerns about the commercialization of biobanks. These results can assist in the strengthening of existing biobanks to enhance their value and demand and improve their performance as research tools.
Read the full article published in Nature Scientific Reports here.
