Vita 34 International AG (V3V)

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VITA34
INTERNET: www.vita34.de, Email [e-mail]
PHONE: [phone]
OFFICE: Leipzig, Germany
STORAGE: Leipzig, Germany

COMMENTS:
•VITA34 was the first family cord blood bank on the European continent.
•VITA34 was the first private bank in the world to provide insurance that guarantees storage if the company goes out of business.
•VITA34 is the first family bank in Europe to offer parents the option of donating their child's cord blood if it matches a patient needing a transplant.

•Website in German and English.


SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:
•The first transplant in Europe using privately banked cord blood took place on 26 Sept 2005. The blood had been stored at VITA 34 on 8 Feb 2005 and was transplanted to treat a 5 year old brother with aplastic anemia.
•11 transplants; 8 to the baby whose blood was banked (ie: autologous)

•VITA 34 moved to a new building in Leipzig in Aug 2003: it features a glass laboratory where visitors can observe cord blood processing in a clean room.

•VITA 34 has applied for a patent (Feb 2006) on their sterile technique of processing cord blood. The new VITA 34 system maintains sterility from collection through processing and storage.
•Collection kit contains extra disinfection supplies. Collection training provided at 2-3 hospitals per week.
•Cost includes temperature-controlled courier transport by express train

•Transport box includes electronic chip to monitor temperature.
•VITA 34 contract is for indefinite storage, not just 18 or 20 years.

•Traditional price model for "Vita 34 Klassik" is an all-inclusive fee of Euro 1990 for collection and processing; the annual storage fee is Euro 30 per year.

•Additional product: "Vita 34 Max", including several medical precautionary services for Euro 2490 plus annual fee of Euro 30
•Another alternative is to pay 25 years of storage in advance for Euro 2490 for "Vita 34 Klassik", resp. Euro 2990 for "Vita 34 Max"; saving Euro 250.
•Additional service: VitaplusDonation (combination of private and public storage)

•If the sample fails infectious disease testing, there is no charge to parents. If the sample can be stored but the parents choose not to store, only Euro 150 charged.
•Parents can cancel their contract within 4 weeks of collection without cause.
•Listed price is for Germany and Austria; elsewhere cost adjusted to cover transportation.
•Sibling Transplant Program provides free banking if a sibling has a disease that is treated with transplantation. As of May 2004, 70 children have banked cord blood under this charity program.
•VITAplusDonation (available starting 1 Jan 2008) gives parents the option to undergo further typing and testing and list the cord blood on a registry. If the cord blood matches a patient needing a transplant, parents can choose to donate the cord blood to the patient and receive reimbursement from the bank.
•The fact that VITA 34 is allowed to transfer private clients to public donations shows that their quality control meets all the requirements for public banking.

•As of 30 June 2009, VITA 34 claims an inventory of 63,000 cord blood collections.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
VITA 34 has several research partners. Topics of research include:
•cord blood expansion
•cord blood treatment of stroke
•cord blood treatment of myocardial infarction
•cord blood treatment of newborn brain disease
•cord blood treatment of type-1-diabetes (juvenile diabetes)

•basic stem cell research, e.g. on very small embryonic like stem cells

On 23 March 2007, VITA 34 International AG became a publicly traded company. The release of 600,000 shares at 15 Euro each created a cash inflow of 9 million Euro to fuel accelerated growth. VITA34 is listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, all shares are graded "prime". VITA 34 estimates that nearly 90% of families storing cord blood in Germany are using their services.

VITA34 is one of the first private banks in the world to combine family storage with public donation, through their VITAplusDonation program. Previously, CryoLife in Hong Kong offered the CryoMATCH service, whereby parents could agree to have the blood listed on a registry and parents made the decision whether to release it if it matched a patient. Then Virgin Health Bank in the UK started a program whereby the parents kept 20% of the cord blood and 80% went into a public bank. In the VITAplusDonation program, the cord blood remians the property of the parents but it undergoes the testing and typing that allow it to be available to a patient needing a transplant. If parents choose to donate the blood they will be fully reimbursed by the bank. VITA 34 is the only private cord blood bank in Germany which has a pharmaceutical permit for the storage of donated cord blood intended for unrelated patients (called allogeneic transplants). This program fills the desire of parents to be able to help their own family and society at the same time. VITA34 is one of the founding members of Cord Blood Europe.