The only commercial biorepository of its kind, GenVault goes above and beyond to provide flexible storage space, advanced securities, and comprehensive support to the research community.
The rise of biologic therapeutics research and drug discovery worldwide comes with challenges, including lack of sufficient biorepository space for secure sample storage. By 2019, the shortage hit a fever pitch.
Keith DiMarino took note.
DiMarino is founder and CEO of secure records archive company DocuVault, in business since 2003. The occasional request for biostorage over the years had made DiMarino aware of the mounting biostorage need. When he constructed DocuVault’s state-of the-art South Jersey facility in 2016, he left a portion of the facility open for possible expansion into biostorage services.
In 2019, the time had come to make that vision a reality. DiMarino enlisted Emily Young, a scientist and longtime commercial and biospecimen operations manager. Consulting with lab design specialists, cryogenic storage and supply chain experts, DiMarino, Young, and team of industry leaders designed GenVault, a state-of-the-art commercial biorepository offering unmatched space, security, and support. Today, GenVault satisfies that urgent need by supporting the greater Philadelphia area biotechnology community and laboratories nationwide.
This facility offers every possible storage option, with every possible redundancy built in.
GenVault founder and CEO, Keith DiMarino
“Put simply, no other commercial biorepository is as secure as GenVault,” DiMarino says. “Biologic sample integrity is the most valuable and irreplaceable asset to researchers – a reality that informed our every move. The wide range of intricate storage conditions needed for sample preservation requires adaptable space, quality equipment, and expert tracking and monitoring. GenVault was purpose-built accordingly.”
GenVault offers a wide range of customizable storage conditions ranging from ambient to cryogenic (LN2), with temperatures including 30°- 15°C, -4°C, -20°C, -80°C, and -196°C. Internal and external security features provide maximum protection from the inside out far surpassing industry standards making GenVault one of the safest biorepositories in the world.
GenVault’s business model is similarly purpose-built, offering the expertise and adaptability researchers have been unable to find in offsite commercial biostorage to date. Its flexible interior layout and customizable model is the lab equivalent of plug and play; storage space can be ready for a new client within 30 to 45 days and can expand or contract as needed.
“Lab space can cost up to $700 per square foot. Too many labs are paying for space they don’t need because they’re locked into contracts for fixed square footage; meanwhile, their needs ebb and flow,” DiMarino says. “Taking it a step further, it doesn’t make sense to keep archival samples in-house at that cost. By moving those samples to GenVault, our customers have access to them within normal business hours and can request samples via our web enabled LIMS monitoring system. Our in house fleet can have your sample request out the door for delivery within 2 hours of a request. Clients have access to all our other key features as well.”
Young underscores the critical importance of GenVault’s features as well as the value of GenVault’s industry-leading support.
“We know how irreplaceable biological samples and products are to research and development efforts, and we know that the impact would be immeasurable if any of those items are lost or perished,” Young says. “That’s why we took the time to carefully construct a facility that has sample security built into every square inch and why we hired the best lab technicians and cryogenic experts to care for them.”