UK Biobank
UK Biobank is a UK non-profit that maintains a longitudinal biomedical dataset from 500,000 participants, delivering cloud-based access to genomic, imaging, proteomic, and health record data for 22,000+ researchers worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersStockport, United Kingdom
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
UK Biobank firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- UK Biobank
- Legal name
- UK Biobank Limited
- Website
- https://ukbiobank.ac.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- UK Biobank is a UK non-profit that maintains a longitudinal biomedical dataset from 500,000 participants, delivering cloud-based access to genomic, imaging, proteomic, and health record data for 22,000+ researchers worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
UK Biobank industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Biomedical Research Data
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Medical Laboratories (621511), Blood and Organ Banks (621991)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sample / Biorepository & Biobank Informatics (Chain-of-Custody) (HLAGAJAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Biobank & Biospecimen Management LIMS (HLACAMAG)
Keywords
Where UK Biobank is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Stockport
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices8 records
Markets served
UK Biobank business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Core Funding from Medical Charities and Government: UK Biobank receives core funding from Wellcome, MRC, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, and NIHR, which has totalled over £180 million. Additional infrastructure funding of £127.6m from UKRI has been awarded for the new Manchester facility.
- Tiered Data Access Fees: Researchers pay tiered access fees ranging from £3,000 to £9,000 for first 3 years depending on data tier required. Tier 1 includes questionnaire and physical measurements (£3,000). Tier 2 adds biochemical and genetic data (£6,000). Tier 3 adds imaging and whole genome sequence data (£9,000). Extensions at £1,000-£3,000 per year.
- Philanthropic Funding: Philanthropic contributions from Eric Schmidt (£16m matched by UK government), Ken Griffin/Griffin Catalyst (£16m matched), and Amazon Web Services (£8m cloud storage)
- Pharma Consortium Funding: Whole genome sequencing funded by consortium including Amgen, AstraZeneca, GSK, Johnson & Johnson (£200m). Exome sequencing by Regeneron, AbbVie, Alnylam, AstraZeneca, Biogen, Takeda, BMS, Pfizer.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Tier 1: Questionnaire, physical measurements, health outcomes, linked health data, web-based questionnaires |
| Subscription | Annual | Tier 2: Everything in Tier 1 plus biochemical assays, proteomic data, genotyping data, and other enhancements |
| Subscription | Annual | Tier 3: Everything in Tier 2 plus imaging data, whole genome sequence data, whole exome sequence data |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
UK Biobank product offering
Product offeringCore offering
UK Biobank operates a large-scale biomedical research resource following 500,000 UK participants over decades. It collects, stores, and provides approved researchers worldwide with access to genetic, imaging, biomarker, healthcare record, lifestyle, and environmental data via its cloud-based UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP). The organisation also manages a biological samples repository of approximately 17 million containers and is funded primarily through charitable, government, and philanthropic grants with additional tiered access fees.
Product overview
UK Biobank operates as a biomedical research database and platform offering. The core product is its research database containing genetic, clinical, lifestyle, imaging, and health data from 500,000 UK participants. Researchers access this data primarily through the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP), a cloud-based platform built on DNAnexus and AWS infrastructure. The data portfolio includes whole genome and exome sequencing, proteomics data, metabolomics data, and imaging data from 100,000 participants. UK Biobank also offers financial support programs including the Global Researcher Access Fund, Platform Credits Programme (AWS-supported), and Transition Credits Programme (Wellcome-funded), plus a Cost Calculator for researchers to estimate compute expenses. The Biological Samples Repository holds approximately 17 million sample containers available for approved research projects.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- UK Biobank Research Database A comprehensive biomedical database containing genetic, clinical, lifestyle, and health data from 500,000 UK participants, enabling researchers worldwide to make discoveries for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
- UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP) A cloud-based restricted research platform developed in partnership with DNAnexus and powered by AWS, enabling approved researchers to securely access and analyze UK Biobank data with built-in tools including JupyterLab, RStudio, Apache Spark, and Posit Workbench.
- UK Biobank Showcase (Data Browser) A web-based data browser enabling researchers to explore detailed participant data and discover how it might further their research, with background information on data collection methods.
- Biological Samples Repository Storage and management of approximately 17 million containers with blood, urine, and saliva samples from 500,000 participants, with an industrial robot retrieving around 250,000 samples annually for research analysis.
- UK Biobank Imaging Project The world's largest imaging project scanning 100,000 participants' brains, hearts, abdomens, and bones, with hundreds of millions of images captured for research into diseases of aging.
- Whole Genome Sequencing Data Complete whole genome sequencing data for all 500,000 UK Biobank participants, enabling researchers to identify genes that underpin common diseases and develop new diagnostics and treatments.
- Whole Exome Sequencing Data The world's largest whole exome sequencing project with data on over 470,000 participants, measuring the regions of the genome involved in coding for proteins to identify disease-causing or rare genetic variants.
- UK Biobank Proteomics Data Blood protein biomarker data from over 54,000 participants, with plans to expand to 600,000 samples measuring up to 5,400 proteins each, enabling identification of disease markers including four proteins linked to dementia onset.
- UK Biobank Metabolomics Data The world's largest metabolomic dataset measuring nearly 250 metabolites in blood samples from 500,000 volunteers, creating a comprehensive resource for disease prevention and treatment research.
- Global Researcher Access Fund Financial support program covering application costs for approved researchers from less wealthy countries to democratize worldwide access to UK Biobank data.
- Platform Credits Programme AWS-supported funding program offering computational credits to eligible researchers to offset costs of analyzing UK Biobank data on the UKB-RAP platform.
- Transition Credits Programme Wellcome-funded program supporting researchers' transition to the UKB-RAP platform, provided to over 100 researchers to support their move to the cloud-based research environment.
- UK Biobank Cost Calculator Free online tool enabling researchers to estimate and plan compute costs for their UK Biobank research projects before committing, with no login or commitment required.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 18,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers published using UK Biobank data since 2012
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use UK Biobank
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
UK Biobank technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability34 records
Feature4 records
UK Biobank partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- DNAnexuscoreTechnology partner that developed and operates the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP) in partnership with UK Biobank. Provides platform infrastructure, support, and training for researchers.
- Wellcome Sanger InstitutemajorPerformed the £30m vanguard whole genome sequencing pilot on 50,000 participants in 2018.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights4 records
UK Biobank competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- All of Us Research Program: NIH-led US population-scale biomedical research program targeting 1M+ participants with genomic, electronic health record, and survey data. Direct competitor in the large-scale research biobank category, with overlapping academic, industry, and government stakeholders seeking similar longitudinal datasets.
- Our Future Health: UK-based charity aiming to recruit 5 million adults for a genetic and health research resource, built in partnership with the NHS, industry and charitable funders. Operates in the same UK health-data ecosystem and competes for pharma consortium funding and academic mindshare.
- FinnGen: Public-private Finnish biobank study combining genotype data from 500,000+ participants with national health registries. Highly comparable scale and genomic-plus-phenotypic model, with a strong industry consortium funding structure similar to UK Biobank's pharma consortium.
- deCODE genetics: Iceland-based human genetics company (owned by Amgen) with detailed genotype and phenotype data on the Icelandic population. A direct peer in population-scale human genetics research, with a similar model of combining whole-genome sequencing with deep health record linkage.
- Genomics England: UK Government-owned company running the 100,000 Genomes Project and the NHS Genomic Medicine Service. Operates in the same UK health-data ecosystem with overlapping researcher and clinical user base, though focused more on rare disease and cancer than population health.
- Million Veteran Program: US Department of Veterans Affairs research program targeting 1M+ veteran participants with genetic, health, and lifestyle data. Comparable in scale, federal backing, and breadth of genomic plus phenotypic data, with similar longitudinal follow-up design.
- Kaiser Permanente Research Bank: US integrated healthcare system biobank with genomic, electronic health record, and survey data from 400,000+ members. Comparable in scale and multi-modal data integration, with strong longitudinal health record linkage similar to UK Biobank's NHS-linked records.
Regional players
- China Kadoorie Biobank: Chinese population biobank of 500,000+ adults with genetic, lifestyle, and health outcome data, run by Peking University and Oxford. Highly comparable design but focused on the Chinese population; an alternative for researchers needing non-European genetic diversity.
- BioBank Japan: Japanese hospital-based biobank with DNA, serum, and clinical data from 200,000+ patients across 47 diseases. Comparable in serving genomic plus clinical record linkage, but operating primarily in Japan and accessed mainly by Japanese researchers.
Broad incumbents
- 23andMe: Consumer-facing genetic testing company with one of the largest consented genetic databases globally, plus a therapeutics program. Less deeply phenotyped than UK Biobank but operates in the adjacent population-genomics plus drug-discovery value chain.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
UK Biobank social profiles
Digital presenceUK Biobank compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
UK Biobank financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
UK Biobank leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
UK Biobank funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
UK Biobank M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about UK Biobank
What does UK Biobank do?
UK Biobank operates a large-scale biomedical research resource following 500,000 UK participants over decades. It collects, stores, and provides approved researchers worldwide with access to genetic, imaging, biomarker, healthcare record, lifestyle, and environmental data via its cloud-based UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP). The organisation also manages a biological samples repository of approximately 17 million containers and is funded primarily through charitable, government, and philanthropic grants with additional tiered access fees.
Is UK Biobank a public or private company?
UK Biobank is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was UK Biobank founded?
UK Biobank was founded in 2003. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is UK Biobank based?
UK Biobank is headquartered in Stockport, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does UK Biobank make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Core Funding from Medical Charities and Government is the primary driver. The others are tiered Data Access Fees, philanthropic Funding and pharma Consortium Funding.
Who are UK Biobank's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are All of Us Research Program, Our Future Health, FinnGen, deCODE genetics, Genomics England, Million Veteran Program and Kaiser Permanente Research Bank. Regional players are China Kadoorie Biobank and BioBank Japan. 23andMe is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does UK Biobank have an API?
Yes. UK Biobank provides a Platform API within the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP) that enables researchers to automate processes and integrate UKB-RAP capabilities into their own workflows. The API is available to approved researchers accessing data through the cloud-based platform. Developer documentation is at ukbiobank.dnanexus.com.
What industry is UK Biobank in?
UK Biobank's product category is Biomedical Research Data. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAJAH, Sample / Biorepository & Biobank Informatics (Chain-of-Custody), with a secondary code of HLACAMAG, Biobank & Biospecimen Management LIMS. Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 8731.