Cellaviva: improving lives through stem cell technology

What is your business idea, what problem do you want to solve?
“Cellaviva was founded by researchers from Karolinska Institutet, in the belief that stem cells will revolutionize how complex and incurable diseases are treated. We are a biobank that helps expectant parents to save stem cells from the umbilical cord at birth, in a so-called family bank. The aim is to make high-quality, potent cells available quickly, if medical needs arise. This creates treatment opportunities and expands therapy options for the whole family,” says Cellaviva’s commercial director Sofie Falk Jansson.

Where are you now?
“We’re an innovative and entrepreneurial life science company, with two adjacent business areas with strong synergies: drug development with NextCell Pharma, and stem cell bank Cellaviva. They complement each other because umbilical cord stem cells form the core of the company. We are dedicated to saving and improving lives through advanced stem cell technology and scientific discoveries. Since we started, some 50 patients have been treated with stem cells from Cellaviva’s biobank, with stem cells that have been donated and privately stored.”

What are your plans for the future?
“We see a constant increase in demand for stem cell banks and stem cell treatments. Many of our clients have family members with a diagnosed medical need or a medical history in the family where stem cells are, or are expected to be, a treatment option. We work actively to ensure more stem cell treatments can be conducted, partly by increasing public knowledge of what a stem cell bank means, while we continuously broaden our own clinical studies and identify collaborations with hospitals andor research programmes on behalf of our customers in Sweden and internationally”.

Why are you based in Flemingsberg?
“Flemingsberg is a cluster for cell therapies that gives us proximity to partners, clinical research and the trial clinic at Karolinska University Hospital, where many of our patients have received treatment. The hospital is a hub for specialist expertise in many areas and this creates opportunities for a highly innovative environment, which we need to transform healthcare of the future,” says Falk Jansson.