I have a question about setting labor rates, and service rates, for a new monoclonal antibody (mAb) core at OHSU. As you may know, there are many academic and commercial services available to develop new mAbs, and also for purifying antibody from pre-existing mAbs. But the work is often customized to individual user needs, and rates are rarely publicly available. Most companies ask for information about what protein or peptide will be used to immunize animals, what the final assay requirements are, then talk to the customer to design a custom project, before quoting a price. The core director would appreciate any insight into 'market rates,' both for setting labor rates for the core, and/or setting rates for individual services.
In the past, an individual PI at OHSU collaborated with colleagues to develop new mAbs, and purify mAbs, and similar work was done for non-collaborators on a fee-for-service basis. When the PI retired, the mAb service was merged into our existing flow core, and the staff scientist doing the work in the PI lab became a core employee. The core director has estimated costs for new cost-based rates, however, neither the core director nor the retired PI has high confidence in what the true costs of this service are, and whether these rates are higher, lower, or similar to other academic and commercial rates. In the below example, a common service request would be to immunize 3 mice, several times, perform an ELISA to verify the antibody titer, then use one mouse to perform a fusion. The resulting hybridoma cell lines are then screened to identify a handful that may meet the customers' requirements. The estimated cost-based rate is $8,690. Feedback is appreciated!
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Andy Chitty
Director, University Shared Resources
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland OR
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