A Practical Tool for Modeling Biospecimen User Fees

Abstract

The question of how best to attribute the unit costs of the annotated biospecimen product that is provided to a research user is a common issue for many biobanks. Some of the factors influencing user fees are capital and operating costs, internal and external demand and market competition, and moral standards that dictate that fees must have an ethical basis. It is therefore important to establish a transparent and accurate costing tool that can be utilized by biobanks and aid them in establishing biospecimen user fees. To address this issue, we built a biospecimen user fee calculator tool, accessible online at www.biobanking.org . The tool was built to allow input of: i) annual operating and capital costs; ii) costs categorized by the major core biobanking operations; iii) specimen products requested by a biobank user; and iv) services provided by the biobank beyond core operations (e.g., histology, tissue micro-array); as well as v) several user defined variables to allow the calculator to be adapted to different biobank operational designs. To establish default values for variables within the calculator, we first surveyed the members of the Canadian Tumour Repository Network (CTRNet) management committee. We then enrolled four different participants from CTRNet biobanks to test the hypothesis that the calculator tool could change approaches to user fees. Participants were first asked to estimate user fee pricing for three hypothetical user scenarios based on their biobanking experience (estimated pricing) and then to calculate fees for the same scenarios using the calculator tool (calculated pricing). Results demonstrated significant variation in estimated pricing that was reduced by calculated pricing, and that higher user fees are consistently derived when using the calculator. We conclude that adoption of this online calculator for user fee determination is an important first step towards harmonization and realistic user fees.

Biobank Classification in an Australian Setting

“…Resource-sharing between biobanks can reduce duplication of effort, and promote more uniform operations across different biobank types, 37 potentially reducing the QC, best practice and workforce training/education variations that we have noted. Cancer biobanks with larger sample numbers, a feature of poly-user biobanks, 10,14 were significantly more likely to share staff, and to refer researchers to other NSW cancer biobanks that collect the same sample type. Networking is particularly useful to poly-user biobanks, as this allows researchers to access larger biospecimen cohorts.…”

“…[10][11][12] This user-type system is proposed as a framework for a new phase of biobanking that focuses both on end-users, and serves as an evidence base. 12 In addition, user-type biobank classification has been cited as a basis for proposed improvements to biobank financial sustainability, [13][14][15][16] certification, 17 and operational/regulatory guidelines, 18,19 as well as to usefully describe the diversity between biobanks. [20][21][22] Australia's biobanking sector might be expected to be similar to that in Canada, as Australian and Canadian primary medical research funding bodies have comparable annual budgets, and similar goals.…”

Role of biobanking in urology: a review

“…At this time, it is unclear how much is appropriate for researchers to charge for their banked specimens. To address this issue, The University of British Columbia Office of Biobank Education and Research developed an online calculator (http://www.biobanking.org) to determine this fee, and tested it within the Canadian Tumour Registry Network (CTRNet) . In the USA, the NCI has published an 85‐page best practices statement for biobanking and, with regard to funding, they state that appropriate models will emphasize accessibility to specimens and data, and the method of sustainability should not violate the public trust.…”

Biospecimen User Fees: Global Feedback on a Calculator Tool

“…6,7 Several authors have shared sustainability measures used in their biobanks [8][9][10][11][12][13] and others have offered tools and solutions to aid biobanks working toward a sustainable process. 14,15 One mechanism to use as part of an overarching biobanking sustainability strategy is a cost recovery mechanism in the form of biospecimen user fees. 14 The CTRNet group has previously published on the creation and availability of a biospecimen user fee calculator that incorporates the concepts of biobank activities to aid biobanks in modeling the costs of appropriate user fees.…”