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WADA publishes new Athlete Biological Passport Guidelines and announces webinars for upcoming Modules

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Today, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to publish new Athlete Biological Passport Operating Guidelines (ABP Guidelines), which have been updated to incorporate the upcoming Endocrine Module and new markers of the Steroidal Module measured in blood, both of which will be introduced alongside the launch of the ADAMS Next Gen ABP Module end-August 2023.

Related to these updates, we are also publishing two new Laboratory Guidelines regarding the Analytical Testing Procedures used to quantify markers for the Endocrine Module and for quantification of steroid markers in blood (serum) samples.

ABP Guidelines

The Endocrine Module of the ABP collects information on markers of human growth hormone (hGH) doping. The module aims to identify hGH use as well as use of hGH analogs, fragments and releasing factors categorized under Section S2.2 of the Prohibited List. This module may also indicate use of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), categorized under Section S2.3 of the Prohibited List.

The Steroidal Module of the ABP collects information on markers of steroid doping, which until now, have been measured in urine samples. This module has been updated to also include markers measured in blood (serum) samples.

Laboratory Guidelines

The following Laboratory Guidelines regarding the analytical testing of blood samples provide direction on the pre-analytical, the sample preparation procedure, the performance of the assay and the reporting of the test results:

  1. The Laboratory Guidelines for the Analytical Requirements for the Endocrine Module of the Athlete Biological Passport have been developed to ensure a harmonized application of analytical testing procedures for the measurement of markers of hGH as part of the Endocrine Module of the ABP.
  2. The Laboratory Guidelines for the Quantification of Endogenous Steroids in Blood for the Athlete Biological Passport have been developed to ensure a harmonized application of the Analytical Testing Procedure for the quantification of endogenous steroid Markers measured in blood (serum) as part of the Steroidal Module of the ABP.

Upcoming Webinars

In addition to the above Guidelines, WADA will host two webinars—one for Anti-Doping Organization users and the other for APMU and ABP Expert users—outlining the practical aspects of applying these new elements of the ABP:

  1. The webinar for Anti-Doping Organization users will be held on 26 July at 10:00 EDT. Register here.
  2. The webinar for APMU and ABP Expert users will be held on 27 July at 10:00 EDT. Register here.

Should you have any questions regarding the new elements of the ABP, please contact Reid Aikin (Reid.Aikin@wada-ama.org) or Norbert Baume (Norbert.Baume@wada-ama.org).