 Burnaby, B.C., February 25, 2010 – Lifebank Corp. (“Lifebank” or the “Company”) announced today that it has become the first and only cord blood bank in Canada to earn the industry’s highest accreditation from the Foundation of Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (“FACT”).
FACT accreditation is considered the gold standard of quality, performance and integrity by a defined group of leading experts in the field of cord blood banking. Lifebank is now fully FACT accredited by demonstrating compliance with the NETCORD-FACT International Standards for Cord Blood Collection, Processing, Testing, Banking, Selection and Release.
“FACT accreditation has evolved into an all-but-necessary qualification for a cord blood bank in North America to be accepted as a leader in the field of cellular therapy,” says Ernest Stacey, Lifebank President & CEO. We believe FACT accreditation, together with our existing AABB accreditation, Health Canada and FDA registration, reflects our commitment to achieve the highest standards and quality of service for our clients.”
Dr. Anil Mangal, Lifebank Medical and Scientific Director, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in Hematology and currently Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, said, “While every cord blood organization must comply with a regulatory agency, very few have achieved the status of FACT accreditation. Indeed, this achievement confirms the reputation Lifebank has earned as a leader in the cellular therapy community, by the most specialized medical professionals.”
The qualification process required to achieve FACT accreditation is rigorous, from submission of detailed, documented evidence demonstrating thorough compliance with FACT’s extremely discerning standards to a complete on-site inspection. For Lifebank, the FACT on-site inspection was conducted in September 2009 by three FACT inspectors over a two day period.
FACT Medical Director, Dr. Phyllis Warkentin, confirms Lifebank’s compliance with FACT standards. “We are pleased that Lifebank has met the requirements of the Foundation and has been granted accreditation for Autologous and Allogeneic Directed services.”
Having achieved FACT accreditation, Lifebank now sets an important standard to which all cord blood banks should comply. |
