World Marrow Donor Day: from donor to patient – a global journey of life-saving stem cells

Warsaw, 22 September 2026 – Every year on 22 September, World Marrow Donor Day (WMDD) is celebrated worldwide to thank voluntary hematopoietic stem cell donors who are willing to donate to patients in need of a life-saving transplant. An initiative of the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA), the day also raises awareness of the importance of donor registration and of the international network that makes hematopoietic stem cell transplantation possible.

For FamiCord Group, World Marrow Donor Day is also an opportunity to show a part of its everyday work that is less visible than cord blood banking. For the past 10 years, FamiCord/PBKM has cooperated with DKMS, supporting the handling and preparation of hematopoietic stem cell products collected from bone marrow and mobilised peripheral blood. From the Warsaw laboratory, these products continue their journey to transplant centres and patients in Poland and around the world.

From Warsaw to patients across the globe

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an international effort. Donor and patient may live thousands of kilometres apart, which means that alongside finding a suitable match, the process requires close coordination between donor registries, collection centres, laboratories, couriers and transplant centres. WMDA reports that approximately half of unrelated transplants involve the international exchange of stem cells. 

The Warsaw laboratory is part of this international chain. Over the years, bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell products handled there have travelled to more than 40 countries across six continents. The largest numbers of products have been sent to the United States (1,084), Germany (705), Poland (680), Italy (236), France (232) and the United Kingdom (185). Other destinations include the Netherlands (112), Canada (109), Spain (101), Turkey (81), Belgium (74), Australia (61), Hungary (56), Lithuania and Sweden (52 each), as well as countries as distant as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Israel, South Africa, New Zealand and Uruguay. Each shipment has one destination, but more importantly, it has one specific patient waiting for the cells.

“Almost every day, an international courier knocks on the door of our Warsaw laboratory to collect a life-saving shipment destined for a specific patient somewhere in the world. For us, this is everyday work. For the person waiting at the other end of that journey, it may mean a chance for treatment and for life. Our 10-year cooperation with DKMS is one of the clearest examples of what ‘More than a stem cell bank’ means in practice,” says Tomasz Baran, Chief Medical Officer of FamiCord Group.

More than storage

FamiCord Group is best known for cord blood banking and the manufacturing of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs). However, the Group’s expertise, infrastructure and day-to-day operations extend far beyond these areas. The cooperation with DKMS and the work performed every day in Warsaw are a practical example of how this infrastructure can also support the broader transplantation ecosystem.

The journey of donated cells does not end at the collection centre. From the moment they are collected, every step matters – preparation, quality procedures, documentation, logistics and timely delivery to the transplant centre. In an international system, this often means coordinating a journey across borders and time zones, while the recipient is already being prepared for transplantation.

This is precisely where the FamiCord claim “More than a stem cell bank” becomes something more than a statement. It describes the role the organisation and its teams already play in the wider field of cellular medicine.