Stem cell storage company Cryo-Save floating on AIM

Investment opportunity

Cryo-Save Group NV, which specialises in the collection, processing and storage of human adult stem cells collected from the umbilical cord at birth is to float on the Alternative Investment Market in London.

The company, founded in 2000 in the Netherlands, currently trades in 36 countries, principally in Europe. It runs four laboratories where to date it has stored in excess of 65,000 stem cell samples, equivalent to approximately 50 per cent of the total cord blood stem cell samples stored annually in Europe.

Stem cells are unspecialised cells which have the ability to replicate and transform into a range of specialised cell types that form the basis of different human tissues. Cryo-Save collects and cryogenically preserves stem cells for use in medical therapies.

The storage is monitored under laboratory conditions for a minimum of 20 years. After 20 years the child is offered the opportunity to continue with the storage and, on payment of a further fee, may store their sample for the rest of their life.

Cord blood banking is a rapidly growing industry which has evolved as a result of significant developments in stem cell research.