Cryo-Save
Stem cell group Cryo-Save warns on 2008, 2009 profits
Stem cell storage bank group Cryo-Save Group NV expects revenues and profitability in 2008 to be below and in 2009 significantly below market expectations.
In a trading update it said there has been a weakening in Cryo-Save's markets since the beginning of October 2008 as a result of the current economic downturn.
Whilst samples stored to date for the fourth quarter have held up well, the group has now reduced its expectations for the remainder of the financial year, and the number of samples stored for the second half of 2008 is now expected to be broadly in line with the first half of 2008, which saw 12,537 samples stored. This will impact on revenues and gross profit going forward.
Separately the group's Indian operation, which Cryo-Save built in less than four months during the summer, has now been granted a license and the first sample sales have been completed. The group will initially target five key cities. The market potential is substantial as currently there are some 200,000 births per year in the middle class customer segment, the company said.
Cryo-Save arranges the storage of the stem cells present in umbilical cord blood after birth of a child, with a view to using the cells for various potential therapeutic options later in life.
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