Humancell – Information for Clients

Humancell ceased its cell banking activities at the end of October 2024, and its operating license was revoked. Before this happened, the Humnacell ensured the professional transfer and continued storage of the samples. The further storage of samples now continues at Europe’s largest stem cell bank, the FamiCord Group, in its ultra-modern, state-of-the-art laboratory in Warsaw.

Because there is no cell bank licensed provider in Hungary that could immediately accommodate all the samples together. The FamiCord Group is the largest stem cell bank in and therefore has the necessary licenses and capacity to ensure the long-term, secure storage of the samples.

The transfer of samples took place in the second half of October 2024

The transfer was carried out at the request and under the order of Humancell. The transport company was the necessary licensed to transport the biological samples and appropriate insurance for the process. The transport was approved by the competent Hungarian authority

Customer service is provided by the KRIO Intézet. You can get receive answers to your questions in Hungarian by emailing humancell.tajekoztatas@krio.hu or by calling +36/1/445-3290 between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM on working days. We are happy to assist you.

The sample will be provided at the new storage location. If you need the stored biological sample for therapeutic use, please contact customer service and we will inform you about the process.

This is not possible because the samples are stored professionally in -190°C nitrogen vapor. Only a service provider with the appropriate technology and license can guarantee such storage conditions. Regulations stipulate that the sample can only be legally transferred to another cell bank or therapy center under close cooperation between the transferring and receiving service providers. Physical handover to private individuals is not permitted.

No, the agreement does not need to be terminated because Humancell’s license has been revokes and your customer contract has been terminated. However, the FamiCord Group offers the opportunity to enter into a new customer contract, which will formalize the legal status of the stored biological sample.

No. You have the right to control your sample. This includes transferring the samples to another cell bank at your own expense, requesting the sample to be destroyed, or entering into a new contract with the FamiCord Group at no additional cost for the pre-agreed storage period. If you choose to sign a new contract with the FamiCord Group, your pre-paid storage period with Humancell will be honoured, i.e. you will not be charged by the new provider until the pre-paid storage period has expired. Please formalise your new contract immediately to clarify the legal status of the samples.

The contract between the parents and the FamiCord Group is a long-term, indefinite contract. After the prepaid storage period ends, the FamiCord Group recommends choosing either an annual payment model or prepayment for 5, 10, or 20 years. These payment obligations will only come into effect after the prepaid storage period ends. At the time of signing, no payment is expected from the parents. Importantly, during the contract term, clients retain the freedom to make decisions regarding their samples (including transferring them to another bank or requesting their destruction). In such cases, no storage fees will be due to the FamiCord Group.

FamiCord Group honours the prepaid storage period with Humancell. Therefore, you have no payment obligations for the duration of the prepaid period specified in your Humancell contract. If you sign a new contract with the FamiCord Group, you can be assured that the legal status of your sample will be settled with the new provider without incurring additional costs for the prepaid period. For example, if you signed a 20-year contract with Humancell in 2007, your samples will be stored free of charge until 2027.

If you were on an annual storage fee plan, you can sign a new contract with the FamiCord Group under a similar payment structure. In this case, the FamiCord Group will invoice you for further annual storage fees. You can sign a new contract via the following link: https://client.famicordcryobank.ch/hu/client/km/step-1

Without access to Humancell’s payment records or invoices, we assume that clients have fully settled their contractual obligations. Clients who did not pay their service fees during the contract term owe the previous provider. The FamiCord Group assumes all payments documented in Humancell client contracts as fully settled and has no right to collect outstanding balances without a legal basis.

Yes, the child is the owner of the sample and the parents have joint control of the sample until the child reaches adulthood. This control allows you to transfer the sample to another bank at your own expense. If you find a willing bank, please contact Customer Services and the two banks will work together to arrange the transfer.

The FamiCord Group has 11 laboratories storing samples in 8 countries, including Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Hungary and other countries. The customer can choose between 3 storage location when signing the contract. The fee for the transfer of the biological sample from the FamiCord Group laboratory in Warsaw to another laboratory indicated in the contract is included in the price table of the contract. That said, it is recommended that the sample should be left where it is currently stored – in Warsaw, Poland. The FamiCord Group Central Laboratory in Warsaw, Poland, is the largest ultra-modern laboratory in the Group and complies with all legal and safety standards.

Yes, but in this case you will be charged for the transfer of the biological sample from the FamiCord Group laboratory in Warsaw to another laboratory specified in the contract, the amount of which is indicated in the price table of the contract. For the sake of the sample’s safety, we recommend that you avoid the additional risk of transport. The laboratory in Warsaw is the most modern stem cell laboratory in Europe. There is no additional benefit for you to return the samples to Hungary, as we can organise and manage the return shipment within the group if you need the sample for therapeutic purposes.

The FamiCord Group offers you a customer contract that is in Hungarian and valid under Hungarian jurisdiction, so any disputes should be settled under Hungarian law. Furthermore, FamiCord Group operates a continuous Hungarian language customer service through the KRIO Intézet for your convenience and service. The terms and conditions of the contract offered by FamiCord Group can be found here: https://famicordcryobank.ch/images/documents/contract_BC7CH.pdf

The following discount can be applied to the storage fee:

• for the second child – 20% discount on the list price
• for the third child – 30% discount on the list price
• for the fourth child – 40% discount on the list price

The discounts are added based on the previous contract number in the online contracting interface.

After a successful delivery, the Warsaw laboratory staff will start the inventory, i.e. the individual checking of the samples received. This is expected to take about a year. We will then be able to confirm that your sample has indeed been transferred and is stored in the correct, undamaged condition.

Given that Humancell has surrendered its operating licence and is no longer carrying out cell banking activities, it had to ensure that the samples were properly deposited and further stored in another laboratory with a cell banking licence. The termination of the activity provided the legal basis for the samples to be deposited in another cell bank. The process and the transfer were kept in constant consultation with the competent authority, which approved the transfer of the samples, thus contributing to their early safe storage. Of course, you have the right to control your samples, but in this situation, the priority was to ensure that they were safe as soon as possible. You now also have the possibility to exercise your right of disposal, which may include transferring the samples to another cell bank, requesting the destruction of the sample or transferring it to the FamiCord Group at cost until the end of the pre-contracted storage period. In this case, you are not obliged to pay until the end of the prepaid storage period. Please view the FamiCord Group’s terms and conditions here and sign an online contract here.

We can assure you that all standards and requirements (technical, medical and legal) for the safe transport of biological samples have been respected during the transport supervised by the expert team. The cryogenic vessels were equipped with special sensors so that the temperature was constantly monitored throughout the transport. The entire transport process was planned in advance with logistic experts in great detail and with great precision. No adverse events were detected during the transport. Since the transfer, the biological samples have been stored under strictly controlled conditions in FamiCord’s laboratory. Following the transfer of the samples, we have started a professional, individual inventory of the samples. Considering that there are about 15 000 samples, this process will be rather slow, taking into account the technological conditions (storage in nitrogen at -190°C) and is expected to take until the end of 2025. You can of course request the release of the sample for therapeutic purposes during this period.

Together with the samples, the FamiCord Group has received a database containing the information necessary for identification. This information includes contract and sample numbers. Contract numbers and sample numbers are unique identifiers, assigned to one contract and one sample only. We believe that this data is fully sufficient to confirm that the biological sample belongs to your child. Furthermore, there have been cases where biological samples delivered to our laboratory have had to be released for medical treatment, the samples are in fact the property of the patients and there have been no complaints about their quality.

The FamiCord Group is only responsible for the biological sample from the moment it is received from your previous provider. For obvious reasons, the FamiCord Group cannot be held responsible for the quality, processing and storage of the sample prior to receipt; however, there is no reason to believe that Humancell has improperly processed or stored the biological sample, as its laboratory has all the necessary accreditation and has met the highest standards for the storage of biological samples.

The FamiCord Group has the most experience in Europe in the transfer of stem cells to transplant centres worldwide. This means that all standards (technical, medical and legal) for biological sample transfer are met.

FamiCord Group supports the parents during the procedure and takes responsibility for the release of the samples to the clinic. During this process, we ask the parents to send us most of the available signed documents, such as the authorization to perform the tests on the reference sample and the exact date of delivery to the transplant centre. Once the mandatory tests have been completed, our Medical Director will authorise the release of the sample and the FamiCord Group will arrange for the safe transport of the samples to the clinic.

If the parents have signed a new agreement with FamiCord Group and have included the transplant assistance package in their contract, we will not charge them any fees. The only cost on the parent/clinic side is the cost of the transplant patient’s genetic compatibility test (HLA test).

If the sample is requested for autologous donation in Hungary, regardless of the final storage location indicated by the Parents in the Contract, FamiCord Group will provide the sample free of charge and transport it to the authorised hospital. Free delivery to Hungary applies only to standard therapies, not to experimental therapies.

If the parents have not previously signed any contract with FamiCord Group, we need to sign a separate agreement for the release of the biological sample only, so that we have a legal basis to follow the release procedures. Parents will be charged a fee (at market rates) for the time it takes to sign the contract, for the testing and release of the sample, and for transport to the transplant clinic. Of course, once a special release contract is signed, parents can no longer purchase the transplant assistance package, so all logistical costs are then borne by the client.

If you need to use your biological sample, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can help you with the process and provide you with all the necessary support.

The legislation does not provide for an explicit procedure for handling “abandoned” biological samples. Rules allowing for the destruction of such samples, for example, are included in the contracts between the cell bank and the client.

However, the FamiCord Group is not entitled to invoke the provisions of such agreements when deciding on the further handling of samples. The FamiCord Group is fully aware of the potential future importance of biological samples containing stem cells. Until a new agreement is concluded or a decision is taken on the further handling (e.g. destruction) of the samples, there will be no contractual arrangements for the remuneration of the storage of the samples.

In this case, the FamiCord Group will be obliged to comply with the right holder’s request, but may claim reimbursement from the client for the market costs of releasing the samples and securing and storing them in the FamiCord Group’s laboratory. It should also be stressed that the FamiCord Group shall comply in all cases and at all times with the legal provisions in force and the decisions of the authorities concerning the storage of biological samples delivered to the FamiCord Group laboratories.

To clarify the legal status of your sample, please conclude a new storage contract as soon as possible.