This is a specialised collection of over 350 reference cell lines, originating from laboratories all over the world, to be used in the investigation of the HLA system. The collection was expanded in 1996 with cell lines from the 12th IH Workshop being added. A further 60 cell lines from the 13th IHW collection are due to be added later this year, along with a number of recently banked lines that were originally part of the 10th IHW collection.

Both serology and DNA typing data is available for the HLA Class I and II antigens together with information on non-HLA genes within the HLA region. Both cell lines and DNA are available from stock, however the 12 IHW Committee has specified that only extracted DNA may be supplied to commercial organisations.