History

 

The Company was co-founded in 2000 by Marc Waeterschoot and Johan Goossens in order to take advantage of the opportunities in adult stem cell storage in the European market. The Company initially raised EUR 3.5 million of seed financing and used the majority of those funds to acquire a licence from Cryo-Cell, a US NASDAQ quoted stem cell storage company. Under this licence the Company acquired the right to use the Cryo-Cell name, technology and business processes in Europe to establish its own stem cell storage business. In 2003, the Company terminated its licensing agreement with Cryo-Cell and re-branded its operations as ‘‘Cryo-Save’’. The Group no longer has any contractual arrangements with Cryo-Cell.

The Group’s holding and finance centre was established in Zutphen, The Netherlands with the principal processing and storage laboratory in Mechelen, Belgium. All management and marketing activities are carried out through Cryo-Save, the operating company established in Switzerland. The Group has grown quickly. In pursuing international expansion, the Group’s chosen strategy was to establish operations in conjunction with a local partner who typically had a scientific or medical background. The local partner would usually take responsibility for driving the operation forward in the relevant jurisdiction and would be responsible for sales, marketing and obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. The Group would provide the local partner with technical expertise and support, as well as processing and storage services through its laboratories.

The Group currently has distribution arrangements in 26 countries and trades in 36 markets.