Cryo-Save Arabia, the Middle East�s First Private Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank, to be set up in DuBiote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 24, 2006 -- DUBAI: 24 June, 2006 � Cryo-Save, the largest and longest-established private stem cell bank in Europe, today announced that it will set up the region�s first private cord blood cell bank at the Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (DuBiotech).

Parents across the region now have a world-class private facility where they can store their newborn baby�s cord blood cells. Cryo-Save is the only private facility in Europe that stores an individual�s cord blood at two locations, thereby reducing the risk of losing the cells to an absolute minimum.

Cord blood cells, extracted from the umbilical cord at birth, have become an accepted alternative to bone marrow as a source of stem cells for transplantation. Once routinely discarded along with the placenta and considered a waste product, it has been used in more than 6,000 transplants worldwide.

Cryo-Save uses third-generation computerised storage devices to store cord blood cells. The storage facilities meet the highest global standards and have been accredited by European bodies like Beltest.

�Cryo-Save Arabia is proud to be the first private storage facility for cord-blood cells in the region,� said Dr. Marc Waeterschoot, CEO of Cryo-Save. �Over 40,000 parents have used our facilities across the world to store the cord blood cells of their new-born children. Cryo-Save meets the highest global benchmarks in the processing and storing of cord blood cells and we are delighted to bring the same expertise to Dubai,� he added.

�We are glad to welcome Cryo-Save Arabia to the DuBiotech community. Stem cell research is one of the key activities which DuBiotech seeks to promote at the biotechnology cluster we are building,� said Dr. Abdulqader Al Khayat, Executive Director of DuBiotech. �Storage facilities that maintain the highest global standards are critical to the development of stem cell research. In addition to attracting global companies, DuBiotech is developing a regulatory framework aimed at maintaining the highest quality standards in our cluster,� he added.

Cryo-Save�s facilities at DuBiotech support the increasing use of cord blood cells in stem cell transplants. They are used either for the donor baby (autologous transplantation), or for siblings, parents, grandparents, or cousins (allogenic transplantation). Recent studies have shown a doubling of the survival rate with cord blood cell transplants from a relative, compared with stem cells from unrelated donors.

To date, stem cell transplants have been used to treat 80 conditions, including various cancers, blood disorders, and genetic diseases. Emerging therapies involving one's own stem cells are expected to grow rapidly as regenerative medicine revolutionizes treatment options.

Cryo-Save Arabia will be operational by early August. It will be located temporarily at the Dubai Media City Boutique Offices before moving to the Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (DuBiotech) when the facility is ready by the end of 2007.