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comment by OftenBen
OftenBen  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Show Hubski: Forever Labs

I'm actually 100% down with the science side of things.

Initial extraction and storage costs aside, do your clients pay an annual or monthly charge for storage costs?





thenewgreen  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

There is an annual storage fee of $250.

steve  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm actually shocked at how cheap that is. For some reason I thought it was much more expensive.

EDIT: hell... this is actually ridiculously cheap. Last week it cost me MORE THAN THIS just to get my daughter into our family doctor's office, cultured for a UTI, and medicated.

Get it down to $240 and that makes it $20/month. $20/month? That's doable on many, many budgets.

b_b  ·  2812 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I'm actually shocked at how cheap that is. For some reason I thought it was much more expensive.

Ok I'll put you down for two for you and the wife.

steve  ·  2812 days ago  ·  link  ·  

don't forget the 27 children.

is there a family/culk/cult discount?

OftenBen  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Medical freezers chew through a lot of kwh, makes sense to me.

How are you managing extractions? Will you accept samples extracted by other facilities, or does it have to be done according to a protocol mk and b_b worked out?

mk  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Medical freezers chew through a lot of kwh, makes sense to me.

The cells are kept in liquid nitrogen, actually. The cost has a lot to do with back ups, insurance, FDA compliance, inventory management, shipping, etc. As with most things, we can achieve some savings with scale, and I do intend to bring the cost down for all as we can do so. It's our goal to make this available to as many people as possible, not just people with a lot of disposable income.

OftenBen  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    It's our goal to make this available to as many people as possible, not just people with a lot of disposable income.

Admirable, considering that access to stem-cell based therapies might be one of the biggest class divides of the coming decades.

thenewgreen  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

We outsource the storage to a clinical grade biorepository. Perhaps one day we will build our own facility for such a thing, but that's an entire new competency all together. We use a very large and reputable facility.

We don't accept cells isolated by other facilities. Our credentialed doctors work out of their own clinics or surgery centers. We have a Forever Labs representative there on site to take the bone marrow, spin it down in the centrifuge and then they're placed in three aliquots. Then they're placed on dry ice and shipped to the biorepository.

Below is a photo of me directly after having my own stem cells isolated. One of the proudest moments of my life. The birth of my children vs. this moment.... the kids win by a hair :)

photo

steve  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've got a different picture of you I could share from that day... :-)

DAT ASS.

thenewgreen  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Lol. Don't break the Internet.

galen  ·  2803 days ago  ·  link  ·  

TNG = Kim Kardashian confirmed. :)

OftenBen  ·  2813 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm sure I'll have more questions eventually, but it all sounds pretty swell so far.

If you guys ever launch any research of your own, I'm happy to consult in whatever capacity I'd be useful!