Tomasz Baran, MD, Chief Medical OfficerStem cell storage at birth is a once-in-a-lifetime decision. Parents want the confidence that their child’s cells will remain clinically viable if ever needed. That trust depends on more than storage—it relies on medical experience, transparent operations, full licensing, and a proven record of therapeutic use.
With more than 25 years of continuous operation and its oldest German facility, Vita34, nearing 30 years, FamiCord is Europe’s largest family stem cell banking group and the only publicly listed company in this field. It gives families assurance through transparency and long-term realibility, confirming FamiCord as the best choice in Europe for stem cell banking.
The company offers a complete system that guides parents from collection to processing, long-term preservation, and eventual release of cord blood and perinatal tissue for treatment. Each step is managed under strict medical and regulatory standards to ensure cells retain therapeutic potential, with a documented chain of custody, validated cold-chain transport, and laboratory checks for viability and sterility. This matters because globally, hematopoietic stem cells from cord blood have been used in more than 60,000 transplants across 80 diseases, and 158 ongoing clinical trials continue to refine indications and delivery. Regenerative medicine is rapidly opening new uses for cord blood and cord tissue. Beyond hematology, cord blood contains immuno-and neuroactive cell subsets under study for autism, cerebral palsy, neurodegeneration, autoimmune and cardiovascular conditions, with 140 active clinical trials worldwide.
“We are not simply a bank of stem cells. A bank only stores the material, but it is really about whether you ever can deploy the stem cells for a transplant or therapy. We are glad we have that experience,” says Tomasz Baran, MD, Chief Medical Officer.
Strength Through Structure and Innovation
FamiCord operates under licensed medical service frameworks across major European markets, ensuring full national regulatory compliance and external oversight. About half of its 15 laboratories hold AABB accreditation, one of two international standards for cord blood standards in banking. As EBMT member, FamiCord aligns with Europe’s bone marrow transplant and cell therapies community.
Scale, application experience, and transparency are core strengths. As Europe’s only publicly listed stem cell bank, FamiCord provides families and partners with full transparency into its financial stability—aligned with the long-term horizons of stem cell preservation. In 2024 FamiCord expanded beyond Europe, opening its first lab in Dubai-quickly earning AABB accreditation, applying standards established in European operations. Regional names such as Smart Cells (UK and Dubai) and Vita 34 (DACH region) now operate under the FamiCord umbrella, helping clinicians and parents recognize that a single, regulated organization stands behind the service.
Trust Built Through Emergency Transplant Delivery
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We are more than a stem cells bank–our mission is to make stored cells truly usable in real therapies. That’s where our experience matters. Banking at birth preserves a uniquely young, versatile cell source for families and we are proud that as Europe’s leading stem cell bank, we give families access to both today’s transplants and tomorrow’s regenerative treatments.
Trust Built Through Emergency Transplant Delivery
FamiCord’s focus on clinical enables rare, but lifesaving releases, not just routine storage. During the New Year holiday, a clinic requested an urgent release for a child with aplastic anemia. Despite multiple public holidays, the team coordinated confirmatory testing, release documentation, and logistics in time so that the transplant could proceed on time.
Enabling Access to Therapies
Beyond cord blood, families can choose to store cord tissue, placenta, and in selected centers, amniotic membrane. Crucially, FamiCord can isolate cells from these tissues for regulated applications, addressing the common problem of material stored but never prepared for treatment.
The group operates two dedicated cell-manufacturing centers separate from its banking laboratories. These facilities meet GMP standards to process solid tissues into usable cell products, with physician-initiated release procedures supporting entry into clinical pathways. With nearly 2000 patients treated to date, FamiCord has unparalleled experience in releasing perinatal stem cell products for clinical use.
Its partnership with the Medical University of Lublin in Poland enables FamiCord families to join cord blood therapy programs for cerebral palsy and, in some cases, autism—the only such program in Europe following the Duke University model.
Grounded in reliability, medical licensing, clinical-release experience, and public-company transparency, FamiCord has evolved into Europe’s largest family stem cell bank, built to deliver real therapies when families need them most.
