With a clear political focus, the 13th National Biobank Symposium on 22 and 23 September 2025 in Berlin was all about the future of biobanking and a planned "Biobank Platform for Germany". Under the motto "Biobanking as a joint task", over 200 experts from biobanks, research, clinics and industry came together to discuss strategies, synergies and standards.
Opening and political framework conditions
The opening speech by Matthias Hauer, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), made it clear that biobanks are increasingly being recognised politically as a key infrastructure for biomedical research. Since 2010, the Ministry has funded the establishment of high-performance biobanks with approximately € 40 million – the basis for today's German Biobank Network (GBN). Hauer emphasised: "Germany has written a remarkable success story with the GBN. National activities have been pooled and decentralised structures linked to form a cross-location platform. This is how we use health data and biosamples sustainably." With the coalition agreement, the topic of biobanks now has a new political priority. Within the framework of the Network of University Medicine (NUM), the way is to be paved for a national biobank platform.
Conference President Dr. Heidi Altmann (BioBank Dresden) added: "The biobank platform is currently in the concept phase and has already been discussed between GBN, NUM, the Medical Faculty Association, industry representatives and the Ministry. This concept will be presented and further developed for the first time at the symposium."
GBN activities in focus
In the opening session, PD Dr. Sara Nußbeck (Central Biobank UMG, Göttingen), GBN Board Spokesperson, and Sven Heiling (Integrated Biobank Jena) presented the network's activities in the areas of training and quality assurance.
Dr. Romy Kirsten (Integrated Biobank Mannheim) presented the cost calculation tool developed by the GBN, which for the first time creates transparent and standardised framework conditions for biobank services. "This will enable biobank services to be calculated in a comprehensible manner in future and to be included in grant applications – an important step towards long-term visibility and stability," she explained.
The close integration of biobanking and clinical routine was also discussed: Dr. Alexander Brobeil (BioMaterialBank Heidelberg) showed how tissue biobanking benefits from cooperation with pathology.
GBN representatives in other sessions
Several members of the network contributed to other sessions:
- Dr. Bettina Lorenz-Depiereux (Helmholtz Zentrum München) highlighted ethical and legal challenges in the handling of genetic data as part of the Genome of Europe project.
- Dr. Martina Oberländer (Interdisciplinary Centre for Biobanking Lübeck) presented patient perspectives on broad consent in the OUTLIVE-CRC research network and emphasised the importance of transparency and trust.
- Christoph Döllinger (BioMaterialBank Heidelberg) explained how AI-supported semantic search facilitates the selection of biosamples from unstructured pathology findings, while Andreas Bartussek (Central Biobank UMG, Göttingen) presented digital enhancements to sample certificates that improve transparency and traceability.
- Patrick Skowronek (DKFZ Heidelberg) gave an outlook on the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and the role of biobanks in the use of harmonised health data.
- Dr. Alexandra Stege (Central Biobank Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) reported on a successfully completed audit by a pharmaceutical partner and showed how consistently implemented quality management strengthens the trust of the industry.
- Dr. Gabriele Anton (Biobank OWL, Bielefeld) emphasised the central role of clinical and clinical-epidemiological biobanking in the NUM as an interoperable, scalable structure.
Networking and political discussion
There was a particularly lively discussion in the panel of the fifth session, which focussed on the planned "Biobank Platform for Germany". Dr. Gabriele Anton, Sven Heiling, PD Dr. Dr. Michael Kiehntopf, Dr. Bettina Lorenz-Depiereux, Dr. Stefanie Märschenz, PD Dr. Sara Nußbeck, Sebastian Claudius Semler, Dr. Pablo Serrano and Dr. Frank Wissing debated future structures, standardisation and dialogue between the stakeholders.
Dr. Pablo Serrano (German Pharmaceutical Industry Association), who presented the concept for the platform in an introductory talk, emphasised: "A national biobank platform must function as a one-stop shop, with clear quality standards, rapid sample availability and transparent collaboration between science and industry."
Looking beyond: One Health and European perspectives
As Evening Lecture, Prof. Dr. Thomas Bernd Hildebrandt (Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research) gave an inspiring talk on wildlife research and biobanks for endangered species, providing an impressive look beyond the horizon of human biobanking.
Joséphine Uldry from the Swiss Biobanking Platform also emphasised the importance of the "One Health" approach: "Biobanks can serve as a bridge between human, animal, and environmental fields, facilitating interdisciplinary research and creating real added value for health and sustainability."
Poster prizes
Finally, the best poster contributions were honoured. Among the winners was Nhutuyen Nguyen, GBN coordinator for quality management, who received an award for her poster on "A collaborative initiative towards a quality handbook for biobanks". Together with other "National Nodes" of the European biobank network BBMRI-ERIC, the GBN is working on a harmonised quality manual for biobanks.
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