BELTSVILLE, MD--(Marketwire -05/16/12)- BioServe today announced that the Ventyx Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank, the largest state-of-the-art bio-repository of human tissue and blood in Queensland, Australia, has joined BioServe's network of affiliated bio-repositories. As part of the BioServe Network, the Ventyx Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank will make available its high volume of oncology tissue and blood samples to industry and academic researchers worldwide. The collaborative partnership between BioServe and the Wesley Research Institute was facilitated by Bio-Link Australia Pty. Ltd., a life sciences commercialisation company.

The Ventyx Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank joins the growing BioServe Network that includes Fox Chase Cancer Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Windber Research Institute, and Maine Medical Center. The Network, along with BioServe's Global BioRepository, creates the largest commercial-ready specimen repository in the world with over 2 million samples in most major diseases. Such specimens hold the data driving genetic and biomarker discovery and validation for effective patient stratification, drug discovery and development of new diagnostics.

The Ventyx Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank was founded in 2007 and is a purpose-built research facility established to provide a diverse collection of ethically obtained tissue specimens for biomedical research. The Tissue Bank operates at the Wesley Research Institute, which is located on the Wesley Hospital campus in Auchenflower, Brisbane. It collects and stores tissue samples, blood and related clinical data from consenting patients at The Wesley Hospital and makes these specimens and clinical data available to ethically approved medical researchers. The Tissue Bank adheres to the international standards set down in Good Clinical Practice and Good Laboratory Practice guidelines.

"We are pleased that the Ventyx Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank will make its high quality tissue samples available through the BioServe Network. By tapping this unique and comprehensive sample resource, researchers can quickly obtain most any type of human biological sample in most any disease," said Rama Modali, President of BioServe.

"Becoming part of the BioServe Network will enable us to reach a greater proportion of the scientific research community, putting our samples into the hands of researchers developing new therapies and diagnostics," said Dr. Greg Hafner, Chief Operations Officer of the Wesley Research Institute.

About BioServe BioServe provides a comprehensive 'biomaterial to validated data' genomics services platform, helping researchers gain the pre-clinical data for breakthroughs in drug discovery, molecular diagnostics and pharmacogenomics. Utilizing BioServe's genomics services platform, researchers can identify genetic markers, validate drug targets and correlate clinical data with molecular data to accelerate the development of new and safer drugs. BioServe's services extend from nucleic acids processing, DNA synthesis, high throughput genotyping, genome wide-scans and gene expression analyses to ready-made large epidemiologically sound case-control studies of inflammatory disorders, endocrine disorders, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and many cancers. BioServe's Global BioRepository provides researchers with a library of 600,000 human DNA, tissue and serum samples linked to detailed clinical and demographic data from 120,000 consented and anonymized patients from four continents.

For more information please visit http://www.bioserve.com or call 301-470-3362.

About Wesley Research InstituteThe Wesley Research Institute is an independent, not-for-profit medical research organisation that conducts research focusing on improving patient care and quality of life. Its clinical and applied research aims to discover, test and refine new techniques for better diagnosis and treatment of illness and disease that work towards its motto of 'making a difference today.' Wesley Research Institute provides a range of scientific services across three main areas -- Investigative Research, Clinical Trials and Tissue Banking.

For more information please visit http://www.wesleyresearch.org.au or email enquiries@wesleyresearch.com.au.

About Bio-Link AustraliaBio-Link Australia Pty. Ltd., with offices in Melbourne and Sydney, is a life sciences commercialisation company offering professional business development services to facilitate commercial partnerships in the biopharmaceutical and diagnostic industries. Bio-Link's clients include leading biotechnology companies and medical research institutes located in Australia and around the world. For more information please visit http://www.bio-link.com.

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The Ventyx Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank Joins the BioServe Network