The consequences of the ageing process plays on the mind of many people, including even the most successful, with a feeling that time is running out as the years go by and health deteriorates. Insuring against the ravages of time is obviously not easy, but medical professionals often suggest leading as healthy a lifestyle as possible. However, the best most can hope for is to slow down the effects of declining health.

Until someone discovers a fountain for eternal youth, the next best way of insuring yourself against the effects of ageing may have been developed by some of the world’s leading professors. Immunobank is a Dutch company founded by a combination of business leaders and medical professionals, and it believes that it may have developed the best possible way of helping people to prolong their lives by storing white blood cells now, for use in later life that could improve their immune systems.

The immune system declines as you become older. The concept is to store your immune competent cells before you are too old or infirm

European CEO spoke to one of Immunobank’s founders and the company’s Managing Director, Dr Francois Fisch, about how the company came together, what it offers and why it is vitally important that people look to protect their health now against any problems in the future.

The discovery
Launched two years ago by some key international investors, Immunobank is backed by leading international immunology scientists. Dr Fisch was brought in to guide the business in partnership with Nobel Prize-winning Professor Luc Montagnier, who is famed for his part in discovering the HIV virus. Five shareholders own 80 percent of the firm, but they have attracted around 1,500 other investors, supplying roughly €2.5m to get it off the ground.

The company developed an innovative technology which offered clients the chance to extract the white blood cells that are important to their immune system, known as lymphocytes and monocytes, in order to store them for autologous reinjection in the future when required. Initially, the founders wanted Dr Fisch to establish a blood bank that would extract the cells, but this was deemed impractical: “I was asked to create a blood bank, but I thought that it was unnecessary. It would require €10m, but would not give us any advantage against the competition.”

Instead, he suggested they look to partner with established blood banks, while they would provide the expertise and guidance for clients wanting to store their cells for a long period of time. Ultimately, they settled on a blood bank called Sanquin, which is based in Amsterdam, who harvests the cells for Immunobank and stores them in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -181°C in accordance with all international regulatory requirements.

Dr Fisch is keen to point out that although there are no guarantees, storing these cells is the best way of ensuring that when medical advances are made in the future, people have access to the strong immune systems that they enjoyed in their younger years.

He says: “Immunotherapy is the future of medicine. The immune system declines as you become older. The concept is to store your immune competent cells before you are too old or infirm.”

Some of the uses for the lymphocyte reinjection include fighting various forms of cancer, particularly prostate, melanoma, lymphoma, kidney carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. There is also research being conducted that indicates lymphocyte reinjection may help in combating autoimmune diseases, such as type one diabetes. Immunobank is also working with dermatologists, who are familiar with the identification of melanoma.

Dr Fisch adds: “Today, major research in immunology is making huge advances. If you have cancer or another pathology, it will be possible for you to use your younger stored cells to help make a vaccine. We know that the people who store their cells will be in a better position than those who didn’t.”

How it works
This technology is advancing every day.People choosing to have their cells harvested must be over 18 and under the age of 70, as their cells will have deteriorated by then. Once a client has decided to have their cells extracted, Immunobank will arrange for them to be picked up by a chauffeur driven car from Schipol Airport – chosen because of its central European location – before being taken to Sanquin’s facility for a non-invasive procedure. After this is done, the immunocompetent blood cells are stored in liquid nitrogen by the blood bank for an initial ten years, but it can be as long as 30 years, while it is also possible to regenerate cells from those already extracted.

Dr Fisch says: “Sometimes if you need more cells it is possible to duplicate the stock. The cells are viable for up to 30 years. The contract, however, is for ten years because it’s impossible to forecast what the storage costs will be in ten years. The storage itself is not expensive, but harvesting the cells is expensive.

The client is then monitored annually, although this can be done wherever they are and so doesn’t require them to fly to Amsterdam again. They also receive a card with a 24 hour/365 days per year hotline, while Immunobank is clear to point out how important it is to maintain complete secrecy and security for its clients.

The cost of the process is quite high, as it is expensive to harvest lymphocyte cells. At €22,000 to €35,000, it is tailored for the wealthy. Dr Fisch comments: “ Our aim is to decrease the cost by increasing the volume, so that it permits more people to use this type of technique. The cost includes the immunological check-up (to evaluate the level of the immune defence system), harvesting, preparing and storing the cells. If the costs decrease, we will reduce the prices.” The company is covered by the regulatory approvals that Sanquin has for extracting and storing blood, and it also has an ethics board.

Planning for the future
For a company that is just two years old, it has plans to expand in the future. Immunobank is looking at partnering with blood banks in Switzerland, where a lot of people from Russia, Saudi Arabia and Dubai come to use the many private health clinics around Lake Geneva. It is keen to find a blood bank in the UK, Dubai and Qatar, where there has been considerable interest from clients, and are actively discussing it with a number of institutions, while it also expects to go to Brazil within a year. Immunobank’s ambition is to become a key partner in immunology.

Potential for utilising the cells of other people, such as family members, is not possible yet, although Dr Fisch says it might be possible down the line: “Currently it is only autologous. Perhaps in the future. There is research into this.” And Immunobank participates in the Talisman Foundation, a foundation for research in immunology, chaired by Pr Rolf Zinkernagel (Nobel Prize winner in immunology).

He adds that medical advances will be made in the coming years, and insuring you have a collection of your immune cells when they were at their peak will give you a greater chance of fighting the ravages of time in the future: “We think in the near future it will be possible to re-boost the immune system. It is a sort of insurance in case you get ill. People will be in a much better position to use the new discoveries in medicine with the stored cells.”

For further information visit www.immunobank.com/en