Today Biohellenika is the first choice for parents in Greece because: It is an SA company with the majority of its shareholders and scientific managers being well-known Academic laboratory doctors. Biohellenika operates under the principles of laboratory medical practice and employs 32 people in Thessaloniki and 19 in Athens.
The company is certified by ISO 9001:2000 and is inspected twice a year by Lloyd’s Register of London.
The laboratories are accredited by the Hellenic Accreditation System (ΕΣΥΔ) with No 410 8/2/2008, an accreditation certificate according to ISO 15189:2007, as a medical laboratory, for its quality controls.
Since 2010 the labs are accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
A close protocol is applied for the procedure, according to which, most of the erythrocytes are removed and all the nucleated and leukocytes are collected. During this procedure the system is closed, so transplant does not come in contact with the environment. The protocol followed by Biohellenika for the procedure of stem cells separation and storage was recently published by the scientific team in the Journal Cytotherapy (2007) Vol 9, N.7, 654-659. The Journal belongs to the International Society for Cellular Therapy and is the Society's official journal. Stem cell banks and individual scientists express interest for the high viability and enrichment of the stem cells following this protocol.
Today 40 secientific papers have been published in PuMed Jourlans from R&D Department of Biohellenika.
The samples have one unique code number by which they are identified. The sterile positive pressure rooms and the most modern laminar flow cabinets that operate inside of them, are inspected daily for particle concentration and microbial units. A full quality check with modern flow cytometry (Beckman Coulter and Becton Dickinson) is applied, according to internationally approved clinical protocols, the most sensitive blood culture bacteriological test system (Bactec and BioMerieux), check for haematopoietic colony forming unit tests, and viral tests with the most modern RT-PCR system (Rotor gene 6000).
The cryopreserved samples are considered the property of the child and fall under the laws of property protection. Biohellenika, one of the lead companies in Greece in the field of biotechnology supports your family from the moment of the birth of your child. With dedication and using the highest technology, it ensures your child’s stem cell preservation and at the same time, provides it with a lifetime health service. Biohellenika’s private agreement was developed to reassure you and your child. For this reason the company does not request a signature or a deposit payment before the whole procedure is completed with the issue of the medical quality report. The company issues a medical quality report with the unique code number and the cryopreservation locations of the samples for each child. Our company does not identify the transplants by histocompatibility types. If and when this is required by the parents, the identification can be done from blood tests taken from the child and the receiver.
Today is the first private Cord Blood Bank that is lisenced by the authorities, Department of Health and National Transplants Organization.