Health Economics Analysis of Cancer Biobank Costs and Outputs in NSW

Abstract

Human preclinical and translational research frequently relies upon quality human biospecimens and associated data, usually obtained from biobanks. Despite the importance of human biospecimens in research, biobanks have reported sustainability challenges. We highlight the dearth of publications that discuss biobank outputs, and propose that reported sustainability challenges may partly arise from a lack of information about the value of biobank outputs. For a cohort of n=12 cancer biobanks in New South Wales, we performed an in-depth analysis of the annual monetary and in-kind costs and publications supported by each biobank. There were few identified differences between biobank costs and supported publications supported for open-access versus restricted-access biobanks, whereas greater investments in biobanking were associated with supported publications in more prestigious journals that gained more on-line attention. To understand the perspectives of Australian biobank users, we separately conducted a survey of n=137 Australian biomedical researchers. While survey respondents were generally satisfied with biobank services, a proportion reported a lack of sample availability, with the majority of respondents reporting having created their own collection to access the biospecimens that they required. Respondents also highlighted the need for greater availability of annotated data. The results from our studies provide a more evidence-based approach to individual biobank management and planning. Furthermore, external stakeholders can use these results to make more informed decisions that more effectively support the discipline of biobanking. Ultimately, these combined approaches may improve both biobank sustainability, and the capacity of human biobanks to support biomedical research.