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Analytik Jena AG Supports Bone Marrow Donation Organization in its Fight against Blood Cancer

Jena/Dresden, June 18, 2015 – With a group-wide employee registration drive, Analytik Jena AG is supporting DKMS, the German bone marrow donation organization, whose DKMS Life Science Lab is a new Analytik Jena customer. Analytik Jena, a producer of analysis technology and life science products has called upon its employees in Germany to support DKMS in the fight against blood cancer by having themselves tested and registered as potential stem-cell contributors. There was a major drive today at the company’s Jena headquarters with Analytik Jena employees having their cheeks swabbed by medical personnel. Similar drives will follow at other company sites in Germany.

As Analytik Jena CEO Klaus Berka said: “I am glad that we were able to mobilize Analytik Jena employees today even if this type of personal decision is surely not easy. This issue means a lot to us. Many people get blood cancer, including many young people and children and, for a large number, stem-cell donations provide the only chance to recover. And we want to help.” He added that “at Analytik Jena, we also support this battle by taking on the costs of all the tests carried out among our staff.”

With over 5.2 million registered potential stem-cell contributors, DKMS is the world’s largest organization of the type, bringing together patients, stem-cell contributors, supporters, and employees in the fight against blood cancer. The blood samples of all new registrees at DKMS Life Science Lab GmbH since 2014 have also been tested for Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a very widespread herpes virus. Between 30 and 90 percent of people around the world are CMV-positive. While this infection is mostly fully harmless for otherwise healthy people, it can have life-threatening consequences for the immunocompromised.

As Klaus Berka explained: “The system used to automatically detect CMV in plasma comes from our CyBio product line. This makes it possible to choose only those contributors whose CMV status matches the patients, from the very beginning.”

Employees of DKMS Life Science Lab working with the cotton swabs of new donors. The cotton swabs are applied to type tissue markers. © DKMS