Benzinga | Dec 2, 2021 07:07AM EST

iSpecimen Announced Expansion of Supplier Network of Human Biospecimens to Help Advance Research in Neurological Disorders

iSpecimen Inc. (NASDAQ:ISPC) ("iSpecimen" or the "Company"), an online marketplace for human biospecimens, today announced it has recently expanded its global biospecimen provider network in support of research related to neurological disorders, which afflict around one billion people worldwide, or an estimated 1 in 6 people (UN).



In the past 10 months, iSpecimen has added more than a dozen sample providers to its network of suppliers that provide access to banked or custom collections of biospecimens such as cerebrospinal fluid, other biofluids, or cells to help advance CNS research.

COVID-19 ConnectionNeurological disorders include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or ALS), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. Also, some COVID-19 patients report neurological symptoms such as muscle aches, headaches, and loss of taste or smell. iSpecimen's capabilities include providing specially collected samples from patients who have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, and who exhibit neurological symptoms.

These are among a wide range of human tissue, biofluids, and hematopoietic stem and immune cells to which iSpecimen provides access through the iSpecimen Marketplace. Such access is essential since researchers have otherwise been forced to scale back their work due to difficulties procuring sufficient numbers of high-quality specimens.

iSpecimen's announcement of its expanded supplier network comes less than a week after the U.S. wrapped up National Epilepsy Awareness Month and National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month. "Neurological disorders are prevalent, varied, and complicated, and we are committed to doing everything we can to support researchers as they work every day to develop treatments, diagnostics, and cures for these conditions," said iSpecimen Founder and CEO, Christopher Ianelli, MD, Ph.D.

Streamlining Biospecimen ProcurementEstimates from the Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research reported in 2011 and iSpecimen's survey of researchers performed in 2019 indicate that 4 in 5 researchers have limited the scope of their work due to the shortage of quality biospecimens. To address this challenge and accelerate scientific discovery, the iSpecimen Marketplace connects life science researchers who need biospecimens with patients and healthcare organizations that can provide them. The iSpecimen Marketplace automates search, selection, contracting, compliance/ethics (institutional review board) audits, quoting, order management, invoicing, and more.