BioVault and Virgin Health Bank
South West law firm Foot Anstey is advising Plymouth company Biovault in their support of Virgin’s new headline service of storing stem cells from newborn babies’ umbilical cords.
Biovault will process and cryogenically store the stems cells collected from newborn babies’ umbilical cords, until the cells are needed for transplant back to the donor to treat illnesses such as Leukaemia or Parkinson’s disease.
Richard Coombs, commercial partner at Foot Anstey, who led a team comprising specialist lawyers Rachel Robinson (commercial law and competition) and Marlene Naumann (Intellectual Property and data protection), said “Biovault are world leaders in the business of storing stem cells. This was a critically important contract for the development of their business. We advised them on how protect their intellectual property as well as the contract with Virgin.”
Although other service providers collect and store stem cells, the VHB/BioVault service is unique. 20% of the blood cells collected from the umbilical cord is stored in a private bank and the rest in a public bank. In the event of a transplant need for the donor the service gives access to their private segment plus either the public segment, if still in existence, or a guaranteed matched equivalent from the bank’s global connections.
Biovault is accredited by the Human Tissue Authority and Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, an executive agency of the Department of Health. It is based in Plymouth’s International Business Park, Derriford and employs 14 people.
Published 21/02/2007
