# BBMRI-ERIC (Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure)

Source: https://onco.cc/institutions/bbmri-eric/  
OnCo record `bbmri-eric` (Institution). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Europe's network of biobanks, the places that store blood, tissue and DNA donated by patients and volunteers for research. It runs a public directory where researchers can find which biobank holds samples from people with a given cancer, and how to ask for them.

## Summary

BBMRI-ERIC describes itself as the European research infrastructure for biobanking and biomolecular resources, set up in 2013 and headquartered in Graz, Austria. Its about page, read on 4 November 2026, gives its size two ways: "28 Member and Observer Countries plus IARC/WHO and around 500 biobanks" in one paragraph and "25 countries and one international organisation" in another. Its services cover access to samples and data, quality management and an audit programme, ethical, legal and societal issues (ELSI), IT, training and a helpdesk.

For a researcher the working tool is the BBMRI-ERIC Directory, a searchable catalogue of member biobanks and their collections, each with the diagnoses (as ICD-10 codes), material types and approximate sizes the biobank reports. On 4 November 2026 the directory's data endpoint returned 852 biobanks and 5,951 collections; 186 of those biobanks list at least one collection with a cancer or neoplasm diagnosis (ICD-10 C or D00-D48), which is how the gap census counted them. A patient who has given tissue at a European hospital may find that hospital's biobank here.

## Fields

- Kind: Institution
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: BBMRI-ERIC; BBMRI; Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure - European Research Infrastructure Consortium
- City: Graz, AT
- Type: consortium
- Website: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/

## Notes

- The two membership figures on the about page disagree (28 member and observer countries plus IARC/WHO, against 25 countries and one international organisation); both are quoted rather than choosing one.
- The member-states page linked from the about page returned 'page doesn't exist' on 4 November 2026, so the member list is not reproduced here.
- Biobank and collection totals (852, 5,951, 186 with cancer diagnoses) are from the gap census's GraphQL read of the directory on the same day.

## Sources

- About BBMRI-ERIC: https://www.bbmri-eric.eu/about/
- BBMRI-ERIC Directory: https://directory.bbmri-eric.eu/ERIC/directory/

## Connected records

- collections: [Amsterdam UMC Biobank](https://onco.cc/collections/amsterdam-umc-biobank/), [Biobanca IRE (Regina Elena National Cancer Institute Biobank)](https://onco.cc/collections/biobanca-ire/), [Biobank Graz](https://onco.cc/collections/biobank-graz/), [Biobank of the National Cancer Institute (Slovakia)](https://onco.cc/collections/biobank-nci-slovakia/), [Central Biobank Erlangen (CeBE)](https://onco.cc/collections/central-biobank-erlangen/), [Centro Risorse Biologiche, Ospedale San Raffaele (CRB-OSR)](https://onco.cc/collections/crb-ospedale-san-raffaele/), [Colorectal cancer research platform (Netherlands)](https://onco.cc/collections/nl-colorectal-cancer-research-platform/), [INCLIVA Biobank](https://onco.cc/collections/incliva-biobank/), [MedUni Wien Biobank](https://onco.cc/collections/meduni-wien-biobank/), [UK Biobank](https://onco.cc/collections/uk-biobank/), [Westdeutsche Biobank Essen (WBE)](https://onco.cc/collections/westdeutsche-biobank-essen/)
- technologies: [Biobanking and tissue procurement](https://onco.cc/technologies/biobanking/)
- institutions: [International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/iarc/)

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