We build custom biobank and laboratory sample management systems for Australian research institutions — designed around your collection, hosted in Australian data centres, and built to support your ISO 20387 accreditation and ISBER Best Practices rather than forcing your protocols into someone else's product.
Quick answer
Most biobank LIMS products are international SaaS platforms hosted offshore and licensed per user or per sample. A custom Australian-built system removes both problems: your human research data stays in Australia under the Privacy Act, and there's no licence that scales with your collection. Custom biobank systems start from around $18,000 for a first release, typically live in eight to twelve weeks, and you own the code.
1 · Data sovereignty
Human research data in Australia sits under the Privacy Act 1988 — including the section 95 and 95A guidelines governing use of health information for research — and, in Victoria, the Health Records Act 2001. Governing that data is materially simpler when it never leaves Australian jurisdiction. Most major biobank LIMS platforms are hosted offshore. We build and host in Australia, or on-premise inside your institution if your governance requires it.
2 · Licensing that punishes growth
Per-user and per-sample pricing means the more successful your collection becomes, the more your software costs. A custom system is a capital project with a support agreement, not a subscription that scales with your freezer inventory.
3 · Configuration limits
Every published LIMS review makes the same point: biobanks capture different data, and customisation is always required. Configurable SaaS still constrains you to its data model. When your collection protocol, consent framework or HREC conditions don't fit, you work around the software. A custom build starts from your protocol.
Sample & specimen registration
Accessioning at collection with configurable fields for your specimen types, collection protocols and study metadata.
Aliquot & derivative genealogy
Full parent-child lineage, so a derivative traces back to its primary specimen and donor through every processing step.
Storage location hierarchy
Site, room, freezer, shelf, rack, box, position — a digital mirror of your physical storage.
Barcode labelling & scanning
Label generation and scanner-driven workflows for accessioning, storage, retrieval, aliquoting and shipment.
Chain of custody
Every movement, custodian and transfer recorded and auditable — planned, then confirmed.
Consent management
Consent held against donor and specimen, with scope, restrictions, expiry and withdrawal that propagates to every derivative.
Temperature & environmental monitoring
Excursions logged against the specimens that were inside at the time, not just against the freezer.
Researcher request portal
A secure portal where approved researchers browse collections, submit requests against their ethics approval, and track status.
Audit trail & electronic records
Immutable, attributable, time-stamped logging designed to support 21 CFR Part 11-style requirements.
Reporting & dashboards
Collection composition, freezer capacity, consent status and request turnaround — the reports your governance committee asks for.
To be precise about what we can and can't claim: accreditation applies to your biobank, not to us. What we do is build systems designed to make your accreditation and ethics obligations demonstrable rather than difficult.
| What the system supports | |
|---|---|
| NHMRC National Statement | Consent recording and withdrawal, specimen-level ethics approval references, governance reporting |
| HREC requirements | Study and protocol records linked to approvals, consent scope enforcement, approval-tied request workflows |
| Privacy Act 1988 (s95/s95A) | Australian hosting, de-identification and re-identification key separation, access logging |
| Victorian Health Records Act 2001 | Health Privacy Principles, access and correction handling |
| ISO 20387:2018 | Documented processes, traceability, competence records, equipment and environmental evidence |
| ISBER Best Practices | Collection, processing, storage, retrieval and distribution workflows aligned to the recommendations |
| 21 CFR Part 11 | Audit trails and electronic records/signature-equivalent attribution for regulated studies |
We've built a biological sample management system handling thousands of specimens across multiple freezers, with barcode scanning, full audit logging, inventory management and reporting dashboards for an Australian client. We're not naming the client or publishing a measured result here without their permission — we don't invent numbers or imply a plural client base we don't have. If you'd like detail on that build to assess our capability, ask us directly on a discovery call.
An honest comparison, because a biobank manager reading this page has likely already been quoted by at least one SaaS vendor.
| Off-the-shelf LIMS | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first use | Weeks | 8–12 weeks for a first release |
| Upfront cost | Low | Higher |
| Cost over 5 years | Subscription, often per user or per sample | Capital project plus support |
| Fit to your protocol | Configurable within its data model | Built from your protocol |
| Data location | Often offshore | Australia, or on-premise |
| Ownership | Licensed | You own the code |
If a configurable LIMS genuinely fits your collection, buy it — it will be faster and cheaper, and we'll tell you so. Come to us when it doesn't, when the data can't leave Australia, or when the licensing maths stops working.
| From | Timeline | |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery, requirements and specification | $3,500 — credited against build | 2–3 weeks |
| First release (core sample management) | $18,000 | 8–12 weeks |
| Full system with portal and integrations | Quoted after discovery | 4–8 months, phased |
| Support, hosting and enhancement | From $990/month | Ongoing |
We work in phases against grant cycles and funding milestones where that helps — several research budgets are structured that way and a twelve-month single-invoice project doesn't fit them.
A first release covering core sample management, storage hierarchy, barcode workflows and audit logging starts around $18,000, with a discovery and specification phase from $3,500 that we credit against the build. Full systems with researcher portals and instrument integrations are quoted after discovery. Compared against per-user or per-sample SaaS licensing over five years, custom is frequently the cheaper option for a growing collection.
Australian data centres by default, or on-premise inside your institution if your governance requires it. For human research data under the Privacy Act 1988 and, in Victoria, the Health Records Act 2001, keeping data in Australian jurisdiction materially simplifies your governance position. This is the main reason institutions come to us rather than an offshore SaaS platform.
We build to support it. Accreditation applies to your biobank, not to your software vendor, so we can't certify anything on your behalf — what we can do is ensure the system produces the traceability, process documentation, equipment and environmental records, and audit evidence that your assessment will ask for. We work from your SOPs.
Consent is held against both the donor and the specimen, with scope, restrictions and expiry recorded. Withdrawal is the part most systems handle badly: in our builds, withdrawal propagates through the specimen genealogy so every aliquot and derivative is flagged, and the system can produce a record of what was distributed before withdrawal. Ethics committees ask about exactly this.
Yes. We integrate with temperature and environmental monitoring so excursions are logged against the specimens stored at that time, not just against the freezer. That's what turns an excursion from an unanswerable question into a documented, bounded event.
We can produce the documentation needed to support system validation — requirements traceability, test scripts and results, and change control records. The validation itself is performed by your quality team; we supply the evidence they need and work to your validation protocol.
A first release covering core sample management typically takes eight to twelve weeks after a two-to-three week discovery phase. We deliver in phases so your team is registering and locating specimens well before the full system is complete.
Yes — source code, documentation and infrastructure, in your institution's name. There's no licence fee to us and no dependency that could strand a long-lived collection. For a biobank with a twenty-year horizon, that matters more than it does for most software.
Yes, and this is usually the most delicate part of the project. We audit the data first — legacy sample records almost always contain duplicates, ambiguous locations and gaps — then map, migrate and reconcile before anyone relies on the new system. We keep the legacy source available read-only.
Yes, Australia-wide. Discovery can run remotely, though for a project of this type we usually recommend at least one on-site session to see the physical storage and the actual workflow.
Have a research collection that's outgrown spreadsheets?
Tell us about your collection, your accreditation timeline and your governance requirements. We'll tell you honestly whether a custom build is the right call.