Concerns raised over possible biobank deal

Chinese firm looking to commercialise Irish tissue samples

A Chinese-owned multinational firm is looking to strike a deal with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) that would see it commercialise tens of thousands of patient samples from separate biobanks across Ireland.

The planned deal on biobanks – which are repositories of biological tissue that is stored for research purposes – is likely to divide doctors and researchers.

Some see it as a golden opportunity to create a large biobank, but others ...