Culture Collection: Pricing information and How to Order

The vast majority of strains in the collection are available for immediate dispatch. Where possible, we will endeavour to dispatch orders within one working day by Royal Mail Special Delivery or International Tracked (& Signed). Orders required to be sent by courier are usually dispatched on the day they are received or the next working day.

Before ordering

Before ordering, please read our Material Transfer Agreement. Conditions of supply are governed by this agreement and all users of NCIMB cultures are bound by the terms contained therein. Strains supplied under this agreement can be used for the purposes of scientific research, teaching, quality control, or other such non-commercial purposes.

However, we firmly believe that our collection is a fantastic resource for industry, so we are always happy to discuss commercial use. Get in touch to find out more!

Ordering

Reference cultures can be ordered by email, by downloading and completing our order form, or via our online catalogue.

All orders must provide full delivery and invoicing addresses together with a contact telephone number and accounts' email address.
Prepayment is required for new overseas customers. We can accept payment by bank transfer, credit card (Visa and Mastercard - we do not accept American Express), or provide a URL secure link on request.
Invoices for EU countries are issued in both UK pounds and Euros.
Invoices for US are issued in both UK pounds and US dollars.

Please note:

All cultures supplied by NCIMB are, to the best of our knowledge, free of background IP or ownership issues that prevent or restrict scientific research associated with those cultures. Should there be any pre-conditions attached to the release or use of an NCIMB culture outside those already stipulated in our standard Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), we will inform the purchaser in advance. It is the responsibility of the end user to ensure that any development, commercial exploitation or use of cultures supplied does not infringe patent or other IP or ownership rights already granted.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol (NP) on Access and Benefit Sharing

Users of organisms purchased from culture collections should be aware that any benefits arising from commercial exploitation of the cultures may have implications in terms of benefit sharing with the country of origin. It is the responsibility of recipients of strains purchased from NCIMB to ensure that the use of the organisms received comply with the general requirements of the CBD and NP, and with any regulations drawn up by their own country and with the country of origin.

For more information about the implications of the CBD for culture collection users and depositors, please see our CBD and Nagoya protocol page.

Pricing

There are two bands of pricing for reference strains from the culture collection. The price band of each strain is specified in its entry in our online catalogue.
- Band A strains are typically straightforward to cultivate with no special atmospheric or containment requirements.
- Band B strains often have complex growth requirements and may grow more slowly or produce lower biomass, which in turn increases the media required and cultivation time.
Please contact us for information on pricing of genomic DNA.
VAT will be added to the invoice total for UK customers.

Pricing is for non-commercial research use only. Please contact us for commercial use pricing.	Band A strains	Band B strains	Bacteriophage
Ampoules and liquid nitrogen vials from stock (without sub-culture)	£156	£312	£312
Active cultures	£312	£624	N/A
Whole genome sequence plus ampoule/ liquid nitrogen vial from stock*	£336	£492	N/A

*The NCIMB strain and WGS data services is intended for research use only (RUO). It is provided to generate high-quality genomic data and polished hybrid genome assemblies from cultivated bacterial strains for non-clinical, research, development, validation, and exploratory applications. This service is not intended to be used for clinical diagnosis, patient management, treatment decisions nor as a sole basis for regulatory or accredited clinical reporting.

Postage and handling charges

ACDP Hazard Category	UK Postage^*	*Overseas Postage^#**
1	£17.50	£68
2	£25	£190 (includes packing and administration charge)

^*Up to 10 items. For greater quantities, please contact us. Prices, postage and handling costs are subject to change without notice. ^#Transport of bacteria by airmail is prohibited to some countries; we ship ACDP category 2 strains by Fedex. If you wish to use a different courier we will charge an additional admin fee. Please contact us for more information.

USA Import tariff

On 30 July 2025, the United States Government issued an Executive Order introducing new customs regulations for goods imported from the United Kingdom. These changes took effect from 29 August 2025. Previously, shipments valued under $800 could enter the U.S. without incurring customs duties. However, under the new regulations, all goods sent by NCIMB to the United States are now subject to import tariffs, regardless of value.

Consequently a 10% import tariff will be added to all orders placed by U.S.-based companies from 29 August 2025 onward.

Explanatory note on equivalency

There is some overlap in strain holdings between major culture collections, where the same strain has been deposited in multiple collections. Culture collections share this information where it is known, and most publish a list of "equivalents".

No culture collection can absolutely guarantee strain equivalency as errors occasionally happen and in a very few cases genetic drift may alter the properties of the strain between collections. However these are rare occurrences, and it is generally accepted that, for example, when a collection states that Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIMB 8295 = NCTC 10332 = DSM 50071 = CECT 110 = CIP 63.52 these cultures will be indistinguishable from one another. You can read more about strain equivalency in this article by NCIMB's culture collection curator

Please note that claims of "equivalency" by NCIMB do not make any claim upon the handling rights or ownership of that strain. Each culture collection has its own conditions of supply and/or MTA which may place restrictions or undertakings when using that strain. All culture collection users should take care to read those conditions when purchasing any organism from a culture collection.