With a large, diverse community of over 5,000 healthy volunteer donors, you get samples that optimally match your requirements. 

You can request samples from specific donors, matched on factors relevant to your research: 

• HLA and blood group 

• Previous viral infection history (including CMV and EBV) 

• Age (18–66), BMI, ethnicity and sex 

• Lifestyle factors including diet, nicotine and caffeine usage 

You get donor cohorts closely matched to your needs, with a level of control over donor selection and screening that’s difficult to find through small, local donor pools. 

You can select and screen multiple donors for biomarkers of interest, then recall specific donors for follow-up collections — from blood products through to leukopaks. 

Common medications — ibuprofen, antihistamines, steroids, vaccines — can significantly affect immune cell function, and skew your results if they go unchecked. 

Every donor is healthy and medication-free, screened against strict eligibility criteria — including exclusion for any prescription or over-the-counter medication in the past 7 days (except contraception). That means you can use these samples with confidence, without the complications that pathologies or bioactive substances can introduce into your results. 

• ISO 9001:2015 certified 

• Licensed by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) 

• NHS HRA Research Ethics Approval 

• Every sample traceable via a unique RDN number 

Research Donors is reviewed and approved by an NHS HRA Ethics Committee in the UK, licensed to collect and store biospecimens by the Human Tissue Authority, and accredited to ISO 9001:2015, the international quality management standard. For you, that means every sample carries a unique RDN number, giving you full traceability back to the donor record, consent documentation, and virology results. 

Every consent form covers the full range of research applications — including genetic research and research involving animals — which public blood donation services typically don’t offer, so you’re not restricted in how you can use your samples. 

Your consent form clearly allows you to use samples in commercial research, with all intellectual property rights to any discoveries waived by donors — giving you maximum flexibility and clarity, whether you’re working in biotechnology, diagnostics, medtech or pharmaceuticals. 

Donors are reimbursed for their time and inconvenience at every appointment they attend, with the fee reflecting appointment length — full details of the reimbursement policy are available on request. 

Choose from a wide range of collection devices, volumes and formats to ideally match your needs. Whole blood comes in bags or a wide range of anticoagulant and specialist collection tubes, rapidly processed into derivatives including plasma, serum, PBMCs and isolated immune cells. Leukopaks are also available, collected via apheresis using multiple Spectra Optia apheresis systems on site. 

You get greater control over how samples are collected, to best suit your research study. Choose the collection device, processing times, storage and handling temperature, centrifugation parameters and more to ensure that samples fit in with your ideal protocol. 

Full format, volume and delivery specifications for every biospecimen type: see the sample specifications and testing standards page 

A processing and testing laboratory directly connected to the donation clinic means your samples are rapidly processed and tested, ready for distribution — including PBMCs, immune cells and leukopaks, processed and frozen within five hours of collection. 

A range of time-critical blood, virology and cell analysis tests are carried out onsite. Every sample is tested for HIV, Hepatitis B&C and syphilis, and confirmed negative before processing and release. While you should always treat blood samples as potentially infectious, our test-before-release policy means you can be confident that whatever arrives in your lab has already been screened. 

Full processing methods and the complete testing panel, including HLA typing: see the sample specifications and testing standards page.

Wherever you are, trusted distribution partners give you access to our blood biospecimens, backed by local technical and customer service teams — so the process is fast, straightforward, and collections and deliveries are optimised around your needs. 

In short, here’s how it works: 

• Tell us your requirements — donor selection, scheduling, sample format and testing 

• Get clear pricing — costings that work with your organisation’s procurement process 

• Plan delivery together — timed to your study, wherever you’re based 

Full detail on ordering, including fresh and frozen timelines: see Order biospecimens