HIV HGM biobank as a research platform for paediatric infectious diseases and COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM: The initial cases of COVID-19 appeared in December 2019 and Spain was one of the most affected countries during the first wave (March to June). Since then, HIV HGM BioBank has been restructured as an established Paediatrics and Adults HIV_COVID-19 BioBank that aims at the long-term storage of samples obtained from not only HIV-1, but also from COVID-19 patients and HIV-1_COVID-19 coinfected patients. METHODS: HIV HGM BioBank holds high quality biological samples from newborns, children, adolescents and adults with their associated clinical data. Research groups trying to establish large networks focused on research on specific clinical problems in epidemiology, biology, routes of transmission and therapies, are potential users of the clinical samples and of associated data of HIV-1_COVID-19 HGM BioBank. RESULTS: The HIV HGM BioBank is an academic and ethical enterprise complying with all the legal regulatory rules to provide service to the society. HIV_COVID-19 HGM BioBank has been repurposed to offer an important resource for global research of COVID-19 in newborns, children, adolescents, adults and elders to study the biological effect of the pandemic. CONCLUSION: Herein, we present a description of how HIV HGM BioBank has rapidly become an indispensable structure in modern biomedical research, including COVID-19 research.

Assessing and measuring financial sustainability model of the Spanish HIV HGM BioBank.

BACKGROUND: The Spanish HIV HGM BioBank is of great relevance for basic and clinical investigation, and for those groups trying to establish large networks focused on investigation on specific clinical problems. The collection of different types of samples from HIV-infected individuals is the beginning of the chain of translational investigation, starting in 2004 a prospective national HIV BioBank that expanded in 2009 a local node (HGM: Hospital Gregorio Marañón) for diverse pathologies and clinical networks, not only in adults but also in paediatric patients, becoming the Spanish HIV HGM BioBank. Our main objective is to find a general criteria and analytical tools to widespread its economic management to assure their sustainability and the future exploitation of the extreme high valuable biomaterial they custody. METHODS: The Spanish HIV HGM BioBank was created with the aim of contributing to advance understanding of different pathologies through the transfer, management, register, processing, cryopreservation and cession of biological material from patients, always for research purposes and under conditions that guarantee its usefulness in current studies and future research that may appear as knowledge evolves. In this study, we have developed a policy for financial control and recovery costs of the Spanish HIV HGM BioBank. RESULTS: Actually, Spanish HIV HGM BioBank guards 413,747 vials of 46,594 samples from 16,210 donors with various prospective longitudinal study type of samples. Interestingly, more than 7907 of these samples are now used in 28 national and international investigation projects and clinical trials. One of the objectives of this study is to develop an economic plan that you get future projects, design of acceptance or rejection keys, have internal investment limits, minimum recovery needs in short/medium term, deviation detection system and a register of capital recovery by period and type of service for the Spanish HIV HGM BioBank. CONCLUSION: Our model can help BioBanks that do not have a costs recovery model to design it, as well as to detect improves and functional revisions to those experienced in this field.