Serbia sends 3,000 stem cell samples a year – Opening of first public bank to further strengthen awareness of their importance

In Serbia, 5% of pregnant women have stem cells kept at childbirth. Compared to the region, the country is among the leaders – the percentage in Slovenia is 2-3%, in Croatia below 1%, in Macedonia and Bosnia 2.5-3%, in Montenegro 4%, whereas Romania is heading the list with around 7%. Nevertheless, Serbia still doesn't have a single stem cell bank.

Although the opening of this institution within the Institute for Mother and Child Health Care in Belgrade has been announced for 2017, all things considered, it will not be completed on time, primarily for financial reasons. In the meantime, the opening of the Stem Cell Bank within the Centers of Excellence in Kragujevac, also announced for 2017, is expected.

Until Serbia gets its first public stem cell bank, which will further raise awareness of the importance of keeping cord blood, those who want to keep stem cells of their children will still need to opt for one of the foreign banks. There are 12 registered private stem cell banks in Serbia, 3 of which are leaders with a 95% market share.

– Around 3,000 samples are sent annually to various European banks from Serbia, says Nebojsa Petrovic, founder of Bio Save Group, for eKapija.

– The number hasn't changed for a couple of years, and an advance of 10.15% might be made in 2017 thanks to various advantages offered by banks to their clients.

Bio Save clients from Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia keep cord blood samples in the German stem cell bank Vita 34, the parent company of Bio Save. In five years of operations in Serbia, nearly 3,000 pregnant women have put their children's stem cells in trust of Bio Save.

– As the oldest European stem cell bank with 20 years of experience, Vita 34 has had 150,000 clients and 30 treatments so far, that is, samples drawn down for treating children. All the samples have been insured at HDI Gerling, which means that the insurance house is obliged to keep the samples for 50 years in case the bank stops working – Petrovic says.

Stem cells can be transformed into any other type of cell in the body, and their potential for regeneration is unique in medicine, whereas numerous researches are constantly extending the possibility of application. At the moment, around 85 diseases are treated with the help of stem cells.

– By keeping stem cells today, you invest in the medicine of tomorrow, and your baby will live in the world of medical progress – Petrovic explains.

– We are trying our best to help the opening of the first public stem cell bank in Serbia, of which we would be partners. In the region, there is a public bank in Croatia, and there are as many as 25 in Italy, which is very useful – by opening a public bank, a country enters the European register and is able to draw down and exchange samples of stored blood. Us private banks would also benefit from the opening of this institution, as it would further raise awareness on the importance of keeping stem cells.

Scientists expect further findings to be made in the field of stem cell therapy to the end of perfecting it. Among other things, Vita 34 is researching new possibilities of therapy for strokes, heart attacks, bloodstream diseases and type 1 diabetes.

Cost of keeping

Storing stem cells in public banks is free, whereas the average price of keeping them in private banks in Serbia is around EUR 2,000 for a 20-year period.

Bio Save signs contracts for 20, 30, 40 or 50 years. They are the only bank which provides the option of keeping stem cells for 50 years. The price for a 20-year regime in Serbia is EUR 1,980, without the annual costs. Keeping stem cells for 20 years can be paid for in up to 48 monthly installments.

Turning to personalized medicine

Orientation towards the concept of personalized medicine will be a priority for the majority of healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions in the coming period. Bio Save confirms this. Since individual differences have a great impact on drug effectiveness, the company points out that, in addition to popularizing the importance of keeping stem cells, they will also be promoting a new service in 2017 – a unique STRATIPHARM test, which provides a child's personalized genetic profile for close to 300 drugs, that is medicaments which can cause adverse effects in a child throughout his or her life. The test can help medical doctors select the adequate medicine and dosage in relation to the child's genetic profile more precisely.

Ivana Bezarevic

Bio Save d.o.o. Beograd

Institut za zdravstvenu zaštitu majke i deteta Srbije Dr Vukan Čupić Beograd

Ministarstvo zdravlja Republike Srbije

Vita 34 Nemačka

Bio Save

Vita 34

stem cells

keeping stem cell

stem cell treatment

public stem cell bank in Serbia

cost of keeping stem cells

private stem cell banks in Serbia

cord blood

keeping cord blood samples

STRATIPHARM test

personalized medicine

Institute for Mother and Child Health Care Belgrade

Centers of Excellence Kragujevac

Ministry of Health