Safe Deposit Service

The Culture Collections offers secure, confidential, secondary storage facility for your valuable microbial and viral seed stocks or cell banks. At ECACC this will be cryostorage, whereas at NCTC it is more likely to be freeze-dried storage in fused glass ampoules.

Cell Lines

ECACC has over twenty years' experience of storing safe deposits for the scientific community. The purpose built, ultra-low temperature storage facility, situated at the Public Health England's Porton Down site, is one of the largest secure liquid nitrogen repositories in Europe. ECACC offers a service for the storage of research grade material which provides the following benefits:

• A secure facility with restricted access control systems, staffed 24hrs a day
• All cryostorage vessels are configured for automatic fill from two independent 10,000L reservoir vessels and are constantly monitored by telemetry alarm systems for nitrogen levels and temperature
• The use of "sentinel" monitoring cell lines stored in the same vessels
• State-of-the-art barcode driven inventory control software

Go to 'How to submit a sample for safe deposit' should you wish to use this service. Ensure you read our Terms and Conditions for Safe Deposits.

Viruses

ECACC offers a standard safe deposit service for the storage of viruses. The service is aimed at providing a secure second site storage facility for viruses up to ACDP category 3. 

Bacteria

ECACC and NCTC offer a standard safe deposit service for bacterial deposits as frozen ampoules (ACDP 2) or freeze-dried stabilate in fused glass ampoules (ACDP 3). 

DNA

We also store DNA as part of our safe deposit service (at -80°C or -20°C). 

Please contact us for further details if you wish to use any of the above services.

Safe Deposit Fees