Serbia getting closer to opening first public stem cell bank - Building permit for 600-square-meter facility until mid-December 2011

- Serbia is getting more and more closer to the construction of the first public stem cell bank. A building permit for a brand new 600-square-meter facility, which will be built in the yard of the Mother and Child Institute in New Belgrade, is expected to be issued in seven to ten days – Dr. Dragana Vujic, chief of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in this institution, says for eKapija.

If the funds are provided and everything goes as planned, our country will finally get a public and family stem cell bank in late 2012. In this way, all those needing such treatment will be able to obtain the appropriate sample if it exists in any public stem cell bank in the world.

As eKapija wrote earlier, aside from a lack of finance, the construction of a public stem cell bank was also hindered by the lack of a location permit, but Dragana Vujic says that that permit has finally been issued, with the help and great engagement from city authorities.

- We've asked the Ministry of Health to get involved in the project as well and help us announce a tender and choose a contractor, which is the next step, because this is a project of exceptional national importance - says Dr. Vujic.

Implementation of this project - the construction of the first public stem cell bank in Serbia - started in 2008, and the value of the whole project (the architectural, building and technological segments) is about EUR 1.3 million. The future bank is expected to keep about 10,000 samples, and the new facility will have to meet all prescribed world standards for stem cell banks.