BBMRI-ERIC

What BBMRI-ERIC does

BBMRI-ERIC (Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure – European Research Infrastructure Consortium) is a pan-European research infrastructure established in 2013 under EU legislation and headquartered in Graz, Austria. It operates as a federated network connecting 515 biobanks holding over 60 million biological samples across 23 member countries and 4 observer countries, enabling responsible access to high-quality samples, data, and biomolecular resources for academic researchers, national biobanks, hospitals, patient organizations, and life-science industry partners.

Its core technology stack comprises the BBMRI-ERIC Directory (central metadata catalogue), the BBMRI-ERIC Federated Platform (Locator and Finder services enabling privacy-preserving querying of distributed data), and the BBMRI-ERIC Negotiator (controlled data-access intermediation). Supporting services include Quality Management programmes and the BBMRI.QM Academy e-learning platform, ELSI Services & Research and the ELSI Knowledge Base, the GDPR Code of Conduct for health research, and standards-based interoperability through MIABIS, HL7 FHIR, and OMOP CDM. BBMRI-ERIC also operates as an EOSC Node within the European Open Science Cloud.

The organization is member-state driven and publicly funded. Services are provided free to public organizations in member and observer countries, while private-sector access is available on request. Revenue flows from member-state contributions and from competitive EU research grants (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe), with named flagship projects including BY-COVID (EUR 12M) and ISIDORe (EUR 21M) alongside 25+ other active EU-funded initiatives. BBMRI-ERIC's strategic direction is set out in its 10-Year Roadmap 2025-2035, "Biobanking for a Healthier World."

Name

BBMRI-ERIC

Legal name

Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research Infrastructure – European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC)

Website

https://bbmri-eric.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BBMRI-ERIC is a European research infrastructure consortium (ERIC) founded in 2013, providing federated discovery and access to 60M+ biobank samples and biomolecular data across 23 member and 4 observer countries for academic researchers, biobanks, and healthcare institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biobanking Research Infrastructure

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Sample / Biorepository & Biobank Informatics (Chain-of-Custody) (HLAGAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biobank & Biospecimen Management LIMS (HLACAMAG), Scientific Data Management & Data Platforms (SDMS/Data Lakehouse for R&D) (HLAGAJAC), Clinical Trial Analytics, Risk-Based Monitoring (RBM) & Quality Management (HLACAOAI)

Keywords

• Biobanking research infrastructure
• Biomedical sample access
• Federated data platform
• Quality management services
• Biobank interoperability standards

Headquarters

HQ city

Graz

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Infrastructure Services: BBMRI-ERIC provides research infrastructure services in quality management, IT, and ethical, legal and societal issues (ELSI) to support biomedical research. The organization is member state driven and serves public organisations including universities, hospitals, biobanks and their associated researchers. Services are provided free to member and observer countries, with access on request for private sector.
2. EU Research Grants: BBMRI-ERIC receives EU funding through Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe grants for specific research projects. Projects include BY-COVID (12M EUR) and ISIDORe (21M EUR) addressing COVID-19 and infectious disease research.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

BBMRI-ERIC operates a pan-European research infrastructure for biobanking and biomolecular resources, providing centralized discovery of biological samples and data, federated privacy-preserving querying, and facilitated controlled access across a network of 515 biobanks holding over 60 million samples in 23 member countries. Its core product suite comprises the BBMRI-ERIC Directory metadata catalogue, the Federated Platform (Locator and Finder), and the Negotiator for data access management, complemented by Quality Management and ELSI (ethical, legal, societal issues) services.

Product overview

BBMRI-ERIC operates as a federated research infrastructure comprising a portfolio of interconnected platforms and services. The core platform consists of the Directory (central metadata catalogue), the Federated Platform (integrating Locator and Finder for privacy-preserving queries), and the Negotiator (streamlining controlled data access). Supporting services include Quality Management Services, ELSI Services & Research, the ELSI Knowledge Base, the BBMRI.QM Academy (e-learning platform), and the GDPR Code of Conduct. These components work together to enable responsible access to high-quality biological samples and data across European biobanks while maintaining ethical standards and data protection compliance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BBMRI-ERIC Directory Central catalogue providing metadata describing biobanks, biomolecular resources, collections of data and samples, and additional services. Simplifies discovery of relevant resources for researchers across Europe.
• BBMRI-ERIC Federated Platform Integrates Locator and Finder services that enable in-depth, privacy-preserving querying of data at the source. Allows researchers to build virtual cohorts tailored to their needs without data centralization.
• BBMRI-ERIC Negotiator Streamlines the controlled data access process, acting as an intermediary to facilitate communication and secure access between researchers and data custodians.
• Quality Management Services Sophisticated and adaptable QM Service and training programme tailored for biobanks, focusing on essential cornerstones to elevate performance, capacity, and operational excellence through a comprehensive quality management system spanning the biomedical research lifecycle.
• ELSI Services & Research Provides dependable, practical, and sustainable services grounded in cutting-edge research, focusing on AI, the European Health Data Space (EHDS), datafication, ethics of AI, and gender and diversity, delivered by interdisciplinary experts.
• BBMRI.QM Academy E-learning platform offering live educational webinars and on-demand recordings on pre-analytical phases of biobanking, with CME/CPD accreditation available through EACCME for selected live sessions.
• ELSI Knowledge Base Open-access resource platform containing practical guidance and information on ethical, legal, and societal matters relevant to biobanking activities.
• GDPR Code of Conduct for Health Research Code of Conduct for health research ensuring GDPR compliance for cross-border data sharing and biobanking activities.
• Colorectal Cancer Cohort A comprehensive European Colorectal Cancer Cohort dataset enabling collaborative research across European biobanks through the BBMRI-ERIC infrastructure.

Quantifiable outcome

• 515 biobanks with over 60 million biological samples accessible through the Directory
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability1 record

Feature6 records

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ELIXIRcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerELIXIR coordinates the BY-COVID (Beyond COVID) project, a 12 million EUR initiative for FAIR and open data sharing on SARS-CoV-2 and infectious diseases. BBMRI-ERIC co-leads Work Package 4 on connecting COVID-19 platform to analysis tools and local portal.
• ERINHAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERINHA coordinates the ISIDORe project (21 million EUR) for infectious disease outbreak research. BBMRI-ERIC contributes to Work Package 4 on Quality for data, ELSI, training and customer satisfaction, and Work Package 8 on provision of access to clinical samples.
• EATRIScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether with EATRIS and ECRIN, published top 5 recommendations to accelerate COVID-19 research as part of European Medical Research Infrastructures' response to the pandemic.
• ECRINcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly with EATRIS and BBMRI-ERIC, published recommendations to accelerate COVID-19 research as European medical research infrastructure collaboration.
• 40 Member BiobankscoreOthers40 BBMRI-ERIC member biobanks acting as service providers for ISIDORe project Work Package 8, contributing to provision of access to clinical samples for infectious disease research.
• IMTM (Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated entity of BBMRI-ERIC participating in BY-COVID project alongside UMCG, CRS4, University of Nottingham, UNIMIB, and INMI.
• UMCG (University Medical Center Groningen)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated entity participating in BY-COVID project as part of the European research collaboration network.
• Leipzig Medical Biobank (LMB)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated entity contributing to ISIDORe project Work Package 4 on Quality for data, ELSI, training and customer satisfaction measures.
• European Institute of Women's HealthminorOthersPatient advocacy organization participating in stakeholder engagement process with BBMRI-ERIC, representing women's health perspectives in biobanking research.
• EURORDIS - Rare Diseases EuropeminorOthersRare diseases patient advocacy organization engaged in stakeholder dialogue with BBMRI-ERIC on biobanking and data sharing practices.
• European Cancer Patient CoalitionminorOthersCancer patient advocacy organization participating in engagement process to represent patient needs and concerns in biobanking research.
• Genetic Alliance UKminorOthersUK-based genetic conditions advocacy organization engaged with BBMRI-ERIC for patient representation in biobanking activities.
• Alzheimer EuropeminorOthersEuropean organization representing people with dementia and their carers, participating in stakeholder engagement process.
• VSOP (Dutch Alliance for Rare and Genetic Disorders)minorOthersDutch alliance for rare and genetic disorders participating in engagement process with BBMRI-ERIC.
• EuCanImage ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPan-European cancer imaging data project building a repository of 25,000+ cancer cases for AI diagnostic tool development. Produced FUTURE-AI Guideline published Feb 2025. Now being integrated into Cancer Image Europe EU flagship programme.
• canSERV PlatformcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU-backed platform connecting research services and infrastructures across nine EU countries and the UK to accelerate cancer research by reducing fragmentation and increasing access to advanced data, technologies, and services.
• ISO/TC 276 (Biotechnology)coreOthersBBMRI-ERIC maintains formal liaison to ISO Technical Committee 276 on Biotechnology, which covers terms/definitions, biobanks, analytical methods, bioprocessing, and data processing standards.
• ISO/TC 212 (Clinical laboratory testing and in vitro diagnostic test systems)coreOthersBBMRI-ERIC maintains formal liaison to ISO/TC 212 covering quality management, pre- and post-analytical procedures, and laboratory safety standards.
• ISO/TC 215 (Health Informatics)coreOthersBBMRI-ERIC maintains formal liaison to ISO/TC 215 on health informatics to support capture, interchange and use of health-related data.
• CEN/TC 140 (In vitro diagnostic medical devices)coreOthersBBMRI-ERIC maintains formal liaison to CEN/TC 140 covering standardization of in vitro diagnostic medical devices.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ELIXIR: ELIXIR is a European research infrastructure for bioinformatics, operating alongside BBMRI-ERIC as part of the ESFRI landscape. Both coordinate distributed national nodes and federate life-science data; BBMRI-ERIC is the biobank layer and ELIXIR is the computational biology layer, and they co-lead projects like BY-COVID.
• EATRIS: EATRIS is the European infrastructure for translational medicine, coordinating academic research facilities and bioanalytical services. Like BBMRI-ERIC, it is an ERIC funded by member states and EU grants, and the two jointly publish recommendations and share infrastructure for biomedical research.
• ECRIN: ECRIN is the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network, supporting multinational clinical trials. It is a sibling ERIC to BBMRI-ERIC with similar governance, member-state funding model, and European reach, and they co-publish pandemic research recommendations.
• ERINHA: ERINHA is the European Research Infrastructure on Highly Pathogenic Agents, coordinating BSL-3/4 lab access across Europe. It is a peer ERIC and directly partners with BBMRI-ERIC on ISIDORe (EUR 21M) to provide combined sample and high-containment services.
• Euro-BioImaging: Euro-BioImaging is the European research infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging, operating a federated model similar to BBMRI-ERIC. Both serve life-science researchers across Europe with shared infrastructure and are co-funded under EU framework programs.

Broad incumbents

• ISBER: ISBER is the global scientific society for biorepositories and biobanks, providing best-practice standards, certification, and the ISBER Biobank Collaboration referenced by BBMRI-ERIC. It is a broader incumbent in biobanking standards with global, non-European membership.
• UK Biobank: UK Biobank is a large-scale prospective cohort with 500,000+ participants, widely used by pharma and academic researchers. It is a single-country biobank at much larger per-asset scale than any BBMRI-ERIC node, making it a benchmark for commercial-grade biobanking that BBMRI-ERIC federates across Europe.
• NCI Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch: The NCI BBRB coordinates large-scale cancer biospecimen resources across the US National Cancer Institute. It is a regional US incumbent comparable in function to BBMRI-ERIC's cancer-focused efforts (EuCanImage, Cancer Image Europe) but operates under a single national funding system.

Others

• GA4GH: GA4GH is the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, an international standards-setting body for genomic data sharing. It is adjacent to BBMRI-ERIC: BBMRI-ERIC contributes biobank-specific standards (MIABIS) while GA4GH sets cross-cutting genomic interoperability frameworks.

Emerging players

• INFRAFRONTIER: INFRAFRONTIER is the European infrastructure for mouse model resources and phenotyping. It is a smaller peer ESFRI project serving a niche life-science resource domain analogous to BBMRI-ERIC's biobanking niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BBMRIERIC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCL2n13WcvK4jLg6AkFner4Q
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bbmri-eric

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about BBMRI-ERIC