DaVita opens biorepository to support drug discovery

Samples are fed into the biorepository from patients visiting 1,700 sites across the US to give data on treatments, prescriptions and hospitalisation, as well as standard information on age, gender and morbidities.

“It is the characterisation of our data and the annotation of this data to our sample sets that distinguish our biorepository services from the majority of the industry​”, Mahesh Krishnan, vice president of clinical research at DaVita, said.

Kidney-focused CRO (contract research organisation) DaVita can give clients sample sets targeted to specific patient populations across a range of therapeutic areas. Samples are ready for proteomic, genomic or metabolomic research.

Accessing this can help support development of personalised medicines and biomarker discovery and validation. DaVita also expects clients to use the biorepository to improve drug safety and clinical trial design.

Supporting research in these areas could also feed into other areas of DaVita’s business, such as biomarker analysis, health economics and outcomes research, and clinical development.

Sample sourcing​

Samples are collected from consenting patients using IRB- (institutional review board) approved protocols and shipped to the biorepository. At the facility DaVita inventories the samples into its laboratory information management system (LIMS) before storing them in -80°C freezers.

All samples are de-identified to support confidentiality and compliance with regulations.

Central lab expansion​

Addition of the biorepository follows the expansion of central laboratory capacity over the summer. Investments at the Florida site focused on analytical methodology, information technology and instrumentation.

“We are confident that, over time, our continued investments in both physical assets and an expanded assay list will position us to be a prominent player in the clinical trials support business​”, Kevin Goudreau, vice president of commercial development, said.