Firmanyheter

Successful completion of Cord Blood expansion project between Cryo-Save and Etablissement Francais Du Sang, France.

Cryo-Save, Europe's leading stem cell bank, is pleased to announce the successful completion of a collaborative project with EFS (the national agency for blood transfusion services, France).

Cord Blood stem cells can be cryopreserved for therapeutic applications. More than 20,000 people have already been treated for over 85 clinical conditions. It was previously thought that some cord blood units could not be stored due to low levels of stem cells, but the project with EFS, paid for by Cryo-Save, shows that some cord blood units can be efficiently expanded at clinical grade. This together with the report in Nature Medicine this week that expanded Cord Blood units have successfully been used to treat Leukaemia in the USA, gives evidence that a wider range of cord blood units will be available to regenerative medicine in the future.

The EFS Aquitaine-Limousin team led by Professor Boiron and Dr Ivanovic, have evaluated stored samples and their ability for the stem cells to be successfully expanded. Cryo-Save, which has the highest standards of cord blood banking in Europe and is operating several laboratories, including one being built in Lyon, France, welcomes these results for the contribution to transplant medicine. Cryo-Save collaborates internationally with leading cord blood experts, including contributing to several clinical trials not least in France and Germany.

Marc Waeterschoot, CEO of Cryo-Save said “Our commitment to transplant medicine has further been demonstrated by this collaborative study and is one of our many successful projects between public and private cord blood banks, including European Commission funded projects. We are saddened to hear the Director of the French Agence de la Biomedicine has labelled all private banks as providing dishonest arguments and lies. We are at the leading edge of technology and standards”.

For further details:
Cryo-Save Group
Marc Waeterschoot: 00 32 3 880 1540
marketing@cryo-save.com

About Cryo-Save

With more than 120,000 samples stored, Cryo-Save is the leading stem cell bank in Europe and one of the fastest growing in the world. Cryo-Save is now represented in 39 countries on three continents and has state-of-the-art processing facilities in Belgium, Germany, Dubai, India and France (under construction).

Cryo-Save sets the highest quality standards in stem cell storage, as it aims to make an important contribution to conquer possible life-threatening diseases in the future. As a service to the public, Cryo-Save offers a Cost-free Family Donation Program, free of charge, to families wishing to store their newborn's umbilical cord blood stem cells for a family member diagnosed with a life-threatening disease treatable by stem cells. The company is committed to further improve stem cell cryopreservation techniques, by participating in European Commission funded projects, in Universities and Hospitals.

CORD BLOOD EUROPE CALLS FOR BETTER EDUCATION AMONG PARENTS-TO-BE

Brussels (Belgium) – 1 October 2009 - Cord Blood Europe calls for better education and understanding about the value of cord blood stem cells among parents-to-be. “The long-term storage of stem cells at birth is still far below 5% of the total annual births in many European countries ”, says Dr. Eberhard Lampeter, President of Cord Blood Europe. “Although there are 5.4 million births each year in Europe, less than 400,000 stem cell samples have been stored to date by both private family and public donation banks.” In the United States an increasing number of federal states have adopted legislation that requires health care providers to deliver mandatory information about the advantages of storing and donating stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

Cord blood contains very young and healthy stem cells, which have the potential to cure previously untreatable diseases. More than 100 diseases like cancer, leukemia, brain disease and diabetes type 1 are treated with adult stem cells from cord blood or bone marrow. It has been determined that there is a 1:200 life time probability for need of a stem cell-based treatment. 20.000 people have already been treated with umbilical stem cells and, with over 3,000 clinical trials ongoing, the number of treatments will further increase.

Cord Blood Europe’s mission is to promote awareness about the advantages of adult stem cells and to increase their storage at birth in Europe, so that thousands of potent umbilical stem cell samples are stored and not considered useless any longer. “As the number of clinical trials with adult stem cells is expanding, there is a need for policymakers and healthcare professionals across Europe to focus more and put impetus on raising awareness about the advantages of stem cells”, Lampeter highlights. “There is no second chance to collect cord blood. Hence, impartial and balanced education of the parents-to-be about the potential of their children’s cord blood is required.”

ABOUT CORD BLOOD EUROPE:

Cord Blood Europe A.I.S.B.L. (not-for-profit) is the European Association of Family Cord Blood Banks and has its representation offices in Brussels. Seven leading stem cell storage companies from various European countries– CrioEstaminal (Portugal), Cryo-Save (Netherlands), Future Health Technology (United Kingdom), Polski Bank Komorek Macierzystych (Poland), Stemcare (Denmark), Swiss Stem Cell Bank (Switzerland) and VITA34 (Germany) – have established this new trade association in January 2009.

Cord Blood Europe provides a platform of co-operation and exchange of best practices in the field of stem cell storage and regenerative medicines. The association members encourage and contribute to a harmonized regulatory framework of European policies on cells and tissues, and comply with the highest levels of safety and quality in their laboratories. The members of Cord Blood Europe are active in all EU and EFTA countries.

For more information, visit www.cordbloodeurope.org

Today, Cryo-Save opened a new high-tech laboratory in the research park Waterfront in Niel near Antwerp. Cryo-Save specializes in research into adult stem cells and their long-term storage for medical therapeutic use. The new laboratory facility will be capable of storing up to 1 million samples and is the largest stem cell bank in Europe. The investment amounts to almost €6 million.

25,000 samples per year

Cryo-Save specializes in the long-term storage of ‘adult’ stem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood at birth. The company annually processes more than 25,000 new samples collected according to very strict procedures. With more than 108,000 samples stored in Belgium, Cryo-Save is the European market leader and one of the top five in the world.

In the last two years the company has seen a huge increase in the number of samples received, mainly from southern European countries. “The establishment of a stem cell bank of this size and format is necessary because science is rapidly evolving. There are more and more diseases that are in clinical research for medical treatment with stem cells. This means that in the future ever more storage capacity will be needed,” says Marc Waeterschoot, founder and CEO. “Not only is the number of transplants increasing, but we are also constantly developing new methods for collecting stem cells, which means we expect the demand for storage facilities will also continue to increase.”

The stem cells are used by medical specialists to treat an ever-growing range of diseases. The Cryo-Save approach is unique in so far that the stem cells are stored under the name of the owner and thus remain available to the individual donor him/herself. In some countries, subject to the legislation, Cryo-Save will also collaborate with stem cell banks that use stem cells for patients other than donors.

Firmly established

Cryo-Save has invested almost €6 million in the construction of the new complex of 5000m² in Niel, which combines research laboratories, processing and offices. There are currently 30 highly trained employees working, but staff is expected to grow in the coming years. When it comes to stem cell research, Belgium has a strong international reputation, making it easier to find and attract people with specialized skills. In addition since the transposition of European guidelines in 2008, Belgian legislation offers sufficient legal certainty for Cryo-Save’s activities.

The location in the Waterfront science park associated with the University of Antwerp ensures rapid access from the rest of Europe via Brussels, Antwerp or Amsterdam. Opting for the Waterfront science park also opens up a unique opportunity for collaboration between the University and the company. Up-and-coming researchers get the chance to carry out research in the Cryo-Save laboratories.

OPEN LETTER TO ALL CUSTOMERS

Dear parents,

We are proud to be able to announce that we now have saved the stem cells from over 100,000 children. This significant landmark was reached a few days ago when the stem cells from the one hundred thousandth newborn child were safely stored in our facilities.

By reaching this important milestone, we have underlined our leading position in Europe, not only in terms of market share, but also in setting the highest standards in stem cell storage, and our commitment to research to further improve cryopreservation techniques.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all very much. Your confidence and trust in our company and service has allowed us to become the leading stem cell bank in Europe.

Reaching this milestone is significant to us, but what inspires us most is helping families at need. At this very moment we have several sample release requests with the potential to save just as many lives. Lives of the children themselves either or lives of their family members.

Twenty years ago just one disease could be treated with umbilical cord stem cells; ten years ago only a handful. Today umbilical cord stem cells have been successfully used in the treatment of more than 70 diseases. Since the first successful umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation in 1988, the total number has now grown to approximately 15,000. Currently about 3,000 transplants are performed each year. We are extremely happy to be able to contribute to the success of these lifesaving developments.

Yours sincerely,

The Cryo-Save Team

Cryo-Save kan med glede presentere utnevnelsen den 5. januar 2009 av professor McGuckin som gruppens vitenskapelige leder

I sin nye rolle vil professor McGuckin være ansvarlig for å integrere ny vitenskapelig teknologi, og for å holde Cryo-Saves lagringstjenester på et ledende nivå.

Professor McGuckin er en stamcellepionér som fremstilte den første ”mini-leveren” fra menneskelig navlestrengsblod. Hans team har fortsatt med å utvikle celler fra navlestrengsblod til mange andre typer menneskelig vev, inkludert bl.a. nervevev og blodårer. Nylig fremstilte teamet hans kunstige ”langerhanske øyer”, kroppens insulinprodusenter, som ikke fungerer tilfredsstillende hos diabetespasienter. Dette kan ha stor betydning for utvikling av stamceller for behandling av diabetes.

I et intervju konstaterte professor McGuckin nylig: ”Min oppgave er å behandle pasienter med navlestrengsblod. Jeg tror at Cryo-Save med sitt innovative og ansvarlige program for lagring av navlestrengsblod vil hjelpe oss å nå dette målet raskere og for flere pasienter på internasjonal basis. Tempoet i utviklingen av stamcellebehandling krever at vi planlegger for fremtidens behov i helsevesenet”.

Rob Koremans, daglig leder (CEO) av Cryo-Save, sier:” Når vi baserer oss på en slik enorm vitenskapelig ”know-how”, vil vi bidra til et sikrere økonomisk fundament og til et bedre tilbud for pasientene. Rekrutteringen av McGuckin er et skritt i riktig retning i våre bestrebelser på å plassere Cryo-Save i fronten av det globale stamcellemarkedet”.

Siden han har arbeidet med stamceller i over 20 år, er professor McGuckin en innflytelsesrik person som blir invitert av regjeringer og sykehus over hele verden, inkludert det amerikanske Senatet, FN (Genève) og nasjonalforsamlingene i Frankrike, Storbritannia og Tyskland. Colin McGuckin er også president i Novus Sanguis Consortium, som ble lansert i 2008 under beskyttelse av presidenten av Europa-parlamentet. Novus Sanguis bringer sammen ledende forskere på adulte stamceller og klinikere fra hele verden for å arbeide med spesielle sykdommer hos mennesket, inkludert hjertesykdom, slag, diabetes, og regenerering av organer.

Om Cryo-Save