Belgian stem cells sent to Poland

Belgian stem cells sent to Poland
© PxHere

Parents who had umbilical cord blood frozen in the Belgian Cryo-Save company learned that their samples were transported to Poland.

Commercial initiatives such as Cryo-Save are now banned in Belgium, but several hundred Belgian samples are concerned by this transfer, De Morgen and Het Laatste Nieuws report.

Cryo-Save, founded in 2000, however, claimed that these samples would be used only for their child in case of illness. For years, many gynecologists had advised new mothers to entrust cord blood to this business. 

The stock coming from Belgian babies was stored in Niel, near Antwerp, along with samples from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Hungary. In 2011, however, Belgium decided to prohibit such storage by a private company.

The Antwerp site has since closed its doors and Cryo-Save signed an agreement with Famicord, based in Warsaw, Poland, where all of the stock and equipment were transported. 

"All storage containers that were in Belgium are now in Warsaw," Famicord CEO Tomasz Baran stated. However, there is great uncertainty as to which samples are there precisely because there is apparently no clear inventory. In addition, samples were also lost during their transfer to Poland. 

Meanwhile, Cryo-Save has gone bankrupt and been taken over by an investment company in Dubai. The new entity, which operates from Switzerland, now wants the samples to be transferred there.

The Brussels Times


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