Following the adoption of the coalition agreement by all future governing parties, biobanking in Germany has been given a new political priority. For the first time, the government programme includes provisions for the establishment of a 'National Biobank'. Chapter 2.4, 'Education, research and innovation', states: "We are creating a National Biobank to lay the foundations for preventive, precision and personalised medicine." The Federal Government is therefore signalling the strategic importance of biobanks.
GBN and GBA offer well-established structures
The prerequisites for successful implementation are already in place. Under the GBN umbrella, 36 academic biobanks and an IT development centre collaborate closely within the German Biobank Alliance (GBA), adhering to uniform quality standards. They make biosamples and associated data accessible to researchers via a unified search tool. Since 2011, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has invested around 40 million euros in developing, harmonising and networking these structures.
New perspectives through integration into the NUM
From July this year, the integration of the GBN into the Network of University Medicine (NUM) will offer additional prospects for further development into a 'National Biobank' based on the decentralised structure. "This functioning decentralised structure should be strengthened and utilised more sustainably," emphasised GBN Board Spokesperson PD Dr. Sara Nußbeck in an interview with Spektrum.de.
Position paper provides concrete impetus
The joint position paper by the GBN, GBA and patient organisations provides concrete proposals for the future structure and forms a sound basis for the next steps.
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