Gemabank turns 5 years old!
November 2008 marks the 5th anniversary of Gemabank, one of the leading stem cell banks in Russia.
In connection with this event, on November 24, 2008, a press conference dedicated to the anniversary of the company and the development of cellular technologies in Russia will be held at the Renaissance Hotel (Moscow) at 15:30.
Accreditation and detailed information: Sizova Marianna +7 (499) 135-11-89 ext. 143, +7 (926) 553-2000, bmg@gemabank.ruGemabank was established in 2003 on the basis of the Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RONC) and uses in its work the experience of the RONC in cryopreservation and cell transplantation, as well as the experience of specialists from the USA and Europe, where the first cord blood banks appeared in 1992.
Gemabank became one of the first institutions in Russia to collect umbilical cord blood at birth, extract stem cells from it and store them at an ultra-low temperature for many years.
Director of Gemabank Prikhodko A.V.: "Today, looking back at the path traversed by Gemabank since November 2003, it's hard to believe how it all started. The founder of the company, Artur Alexandrovich Isaev, decided to realize a long–standing dream - to create a serious and noble business based on the most modern achievements of medical science. So the idea of creating a Gemabank, one of the divisions of the Institute of Human Stem Cells, was born. Artur Alexandrovich gathered a small team of like-minded people. One of which was me. And the work began. A.A. Isaev was not going to limit the activities of the future company only to the personal storage of umbilical cord blood. He planned to implement a number of projects in the field of cellular technologies. And now we can say with confidence that it was successful."
Gemabank today is an international biotechnology company with laboratories and offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ukraine and Germany. These are modern processing laboratories and storage facilities for cellular material, these are research laboratories – the Laboratory of Cellular Technologies in Moscow and the biotechnology laboratory of Simbiotec in Saarbrucken (Germany). This is the scientific journal "Cell Transplantation and Tissue Engineering".
Gemabank has approached its fifth anniversary with excellent results, which the entire team of the company is rightfully proud of:
• Today, thousands of families store cord blood stem cells of their children in the Hemabank, thus providing their biological insurance. A number of famous people from the world of business, politics and art have preserved the umbilical cord blood of their children and grandchildren in the Gemabank.
• Gemabank uses the most advanced equipment to store cells. In 2008, Gemabank opened a new laboratory designed taking into account international GMP standards and equipped with reliable modern technology. During the construction work, procurement and installation of the laboratory, special attention was paid to compliance with international safety and quality standards.
• In November 2005, for the first time in the world, a unique double allogeneic transplant operation was performed in the RSC for a six-year-old patient diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma using umbilical cord blood stem cells of his newborn brother stored in a Hemabank. In the summer of 2008, three years after the operation, the child underwent a full medical examination, a radioisotope scan and oncologists confidently confirmed the complete absence of signs of the disease in the boy.
• In the laboratories of Gemabank, leading experts in the field of cellular technologies are developing innovative methods for the treatment of a number of dangerous diseases with stem cells, creating the latest genetic engineering and biotechnological drugs. In Germany, the drug Oncohist of the Symbiotec subsidiary, intended for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia, has successfully passed the first stage of clinical trials.
• Scientists of the Laboratory of Cellular Technologies have developed a unique technique for isolating fibroblast-like stem cells and endotheliocytes from the umbilical cord, which will provide additional opportunities in the treatment of a number of serious diseases. Methods of differentiation from embryonic stem cell lines of various cell types, such as endotheliocytes, retinal pigment cells, and neuronal cells, have been developed.
• For the first time, two lines of embryonic stem cells registered with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and approved by the FDA were imported to Russia by specialists from the Laboratory of Cellular Technologies for research. In addition, the laboratory has produced 8 own lines of ESC.
• The Institute of Human Stem Cells, with the active participation of Gemabank, publishes a specialized scientific and informational analytical journal "Cell Transplantology and Tissue Engineering". It is one of the most authoritative scientific publications in the field of cellular technologies, genetic engineering, molecular biology and medicine. The journal is included in the list of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science, which is a confirmation of its highest level. In 2008 on the portal www.celltranspl.ru the online version of the magazine was launched. Now the full archive of issues of the magazine has become absolutely free of charge available in electronic form to everyone. The sponsor of this important project was Gemabank.
• Gemabank regularly conducts seminars for both specialists in the field of cellular technologies and obstetricians. Scientists and doctors of Gemabank make presentations at various scientific conferences and seminars.
• Together with the Nastenka Foundation, Gemabank is implementing a program to help parents of sick children in need of stem cell transplantation.
The Institute of Human Stem Cells and Gemabank do not intend to stop there and are building new large-scale plans, such as:
• Further expansion of its activities in Russia, CIS, Europe and Asia, which will be based on the services of cell processing laboratories and cell material storage facilities.
• Development, state registration and further commercialization of new cellular products and technologies, biotechnological and gentherapeutic drugs.
• Continuation of joint research work with the N.N. Blokhin Russian Research Center, the N.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Research Institute of Gene Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Research Institute of Tuberculosis, the Research Institute of Gastroenterology and other reputable scientific centers.
• Conducting scientific and practical conferences and seminars for specialists in the field of cellular technologies and clinicians with the participation of the most authoritative Russian and foreign experts in the field of cellular technologies as speakers.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru21.11.2008