Cryo-Save Group N.V. (Euronext: CRYO, 'Cryo-Save' or 'the Group'), Europe's leading stem cell bank,today announced that it intends to launch Cryo-Lip in the United States in 2011, after the successful introduction of the service in Europe during 2010.
Cryo-Save is one of the first in the world that offers cryostorage of adult mesenchymal stem cells from fatty tissue for use by patients undergoing a surgical procedure.
Cryo-Save is currently looking for partners to roll out this service in the United States.
Cryo-Lip has been launched in Spain and Italy in June 2010 and has since also been introduced in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and Cyprus. It will also be made available in the Netherlands this month.
The Cryo-Lip service has been expanded thanks to new clinical developments, which means it will be available to a much larger segment of patients.
Dr Henk Snyman, Managing Director for Cryo-Lip explained:
"Apart from the cryostorage of adult stem cells for later medical use, we can now also release back to plastic surgeons the adipose tissue itself (Processed LipoAspirate or PLA Liquid) for clinical applications such as lipofilling. In addition, we have just successfully completed a pilot project, validating the collection of adult mesenchymal stem cells from patients undergoing surgical procedures such as elective caesarian sections, general surgical or orthopedic operations.".
Cryo-Save has developed a novel cryopreservation process specifically for adipose tissue, which has been submitted as an international patent. The Company is an accredited tissue bank for the cryopreservation and storage of fatty tissue.
Fat is the richest source of adult mesenchymal stem cells (called ASCs or adipose-derived stem cells when harvested from fat) in the human body and readily accessible (Gimble 2007). Cryo-Lip requires less than 50 ml of tissue, which can easily be obtained. ASCs are regarded as the building blocks of regenerative medicine (Yoshimura 2008), a concept supported by recent publications with significantly positive results in patients with acute and chronic cardiac ischemia.
The interest from the plastic surgery community has been very high with positive acceptance of this groundbreaking opportunity for their patients. To date the company has registered and trained close to 100 plastic and reconstructive surgeons as Cryo-Lip Providers who are now able to offer the service to their patients.
Dr. Jorge Planas, an internationally renowned Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon in Barcelona and the Chairman of the Cryo-Lip Advisory Panel, commented:
"We are receiving positive feedback from both physicians and patients. I am convinced that the cryopreservation of adipose tissue and adult stem cells creates a major benefit for many and will be widely used".
Arnoud van Tulder, the Cryo-Save CEO, added:
"Being the first in this new market segment represents an important strategic advantage for our company. We are aiming for global leadership and are actively investigating our options with regard to the introduction in the USA, the biggest commercial market in the world".
Websites: www.cryo-lip.com (http://www.cryo-lip.com/) / www.cryo-save.com (http://www.cryo-save.com)

Enquiries:
Cryo-Lip +41 555 330 122
Henk Snyman, MD, Managing Director info@cryo-lip.com (mailto:info@cryo-lip.com)Cryo-Save Group + 31 (0) 575 548 998
Arnoud van Tulder, Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Stewart & Company plc + 44 (0) 20 7776 6550
Chris Theis
College Hill (UK) + 44 (0) 20 7457 2020
Rozi Morris/Adrian Duffield
SPJ Financiele Communicatie Amstelveen (Netherlands) +31 (0)20-6478181
Kees Jongsma/Leon Melens
Free footage is availabla on www.videobankonline.com (http://www.videobankonline.com/).
About Cryo-Save
With more than 140,000 samples saved, Cryo-Save is the leading stem cell bank in Europe and one of the fastest growing in the world. Driven by its international business strategy, Cryo-Save is now represented in 40 countries on three continents with state-of-the-art processing facilities in Belgium, Germany, Dubai, India and France (in progress). Cryo-Save Group is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
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Source: Cryo-Save Group N.V. via Thomson Reuters ONE
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