“The market was obviously growing until 2011, when the crisis was felt. At that moment, the sampling rate topped 10%,” said Bogdan Ivanescu, president of the Romanian Association of Licensed Stem Cell Banks (ARBACS).
The stem cell business started developing eight years ago, with the private healthcare market, and during the crisis the low was reached in 2012, when the sampling rate stood at 5%.
In 2012, 180,000 children were born in Romania, meaning that for around 9,000 of them mothers decided to sample stem cells for which they pay between EUR750 and EUR1,000, and then store them in these banks (with costs ranging between EUR60-100 per annum).
Ivanescu, who is also the president of Stem Sure, says that those choosing to sample stem cells are couples of above 25 years, living in cities, with post-high school studies and an average income of RON3,000 per family.
“We now feel the market has started growing and we hope the sampling rate gets to 8% at yearend,” added Ivanescu.
ARBACS includes three companies: Biogenis, Cord Blood Center and Stem Sure. The market includes other companies as well, with the total number of banks standing at 18.
“We expect the market to stabilize at 5-6 players,” said Ivanescu.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)