The Fingenious service will enable different kinds of register studies – analytical expertise at the fore
The Finnish Biobank Cooperative (FINBB) and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) are expanding the Fingenious® service, which offers biobank data for research use. Register data will be added to the service.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Business Finland and the Social and Health Data Permit Authority Findata are involved in the development of the Fingenious® service.
‘The aim is to increase health and biomedical research in Finland – and particularly the secondary use of information – by enabling different kinds of register studies,’ explains Marco Hautalahti, CEO of FINBB.
Secondary use of data means the use of client and register data in social welfare and health care for purposes other than the primary purpose for which they were originally stored.
‘The Fingenious® service benefits the entire Finnish health sector ecosystem and an expanding number of Finnish analytics, research and service companies,’ Hautalahti continues.
Currently, the participating biobanks are Auria Biobank, Helsinki Biobank, Eastern Finland Biobank, Central Finland Biobank, Northern Finland Biobank Borealis, Tampere Biobank and THL Biobank. So far, the service has enabled as many as 400 research projects, and there are already over 500 researchers registered for the service.
‘Through Fingenious®, biobank research has become easier and faster. It is a natural step to extend the service to other key information resources and Finnish analytics services,’ says Senior Adviser Jukka Lähesmaa from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Finland provides world-class analytical and expert services
Finland has exceptionally comprehensive and high-quality information resources for its social and health care sector. The Act on Secondary Use of Data from 2019 enables not only research and statistics, but also innovation work and knowledge management. Data permits for register data are granted by the Social and Health Data Permit Authority Findata in accordance with the Act.
‘Working on the basis of the one-stop-shop principle, Findata provides data permits and permit-based data collection for both public and private sector social welfare and health care data,’ explains Findata Director Johanna Seppänen, whose organisation is involved in the cooperation.
‘Biobanks and secondary use offer Finnish service companies a significant international business opportunity that is already showing signs of traction in the pharmaceutical industry,’ adds Sampo Sammalisto from Business Finland.
The Fingenious® service will be developed in 2021–2022 through a secondary ecosystem development project. The project is funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and coordinated by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The service is owned by the Finnish Biobank Cooperative (FINBB).
‘Finland has all the prerequisites for providing world-class analytical and expert services based on the scientific utilisation of extensive data resources and sample data for customers such as international innovative pharmaceutical industries. Taking hold of this opportunity requires vision, cooperation and courage, and so this is the spirit in which we are setting out to build the Fingenious® ecosystem together with our partners,’ summarises Terhi Kilpi, Assistant Director General of Research, Development and Innovation at THL.
Contact information
Marco Hautalahti
CEO
Finnish Biobank Cooperative – FINBB
Tel. + 358 400 493 613
[email protected]
Terhi Kilpi
Assistant Director General for RDI
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
Tel. +358 29 524 6006
[email protected]
Jukka Lähesmaa
Senior Specialist
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Tel. +358 29 526 3139
[email protected]
Sampo Sammalisto
Head of Personalized Health Finland
Business Finland
Tel. +358 50 584 1100
[email protected]
Johanna Seppänen
Director
Findata
Tel. +358 29 524 6020
[email protected]
