6
T h e S e r u m S p e c i a l i s t
Since FBS is initially a non-
utilized byproduct available from
slaughterhouses worldwide,
the global supply of FBS has
permanently exceeded global
demand. Today, conditions are
favorable for uniform and stable
purchasing and sale prices at
more affordable levels. The
problem has been barriers to
trade and the lack of scientific
information to FBS users. This
has generated a fragmentation
of the serum world, with different
supply/demand constellations
in different segments, and price
differences between origins
sometimes exceeding 1,000%.
If FBS is dealt with in a
transparent, customer-
friendly, scientifically-correct
way and trade barriers and
misinformation are eliminated,
FBS will be more abundant
and less expensive, and there
will be no economic incentives
for criminal activities. This
is how it should be. Instead,
historically, the serum industry
has occasionally interrupted
collection, creating shortages;
objected to opening imports of
FBS into the USA from South
America as proposed twice by
the USDA; and misinformed
serum users and regulators
Future,
Moving Forward
AS LONG AS IMPORT RULES ARE DIFFERENT BETWEEN
COUNTRIES, AND RESULTING SERUM PRICES VARY BY
UP TO A FACTOR OF 10, TRACEABILITY-RELATED CRIMES
CAN OCCUR. ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES MUST BE STOPPED
BECAUSE THEY NOT ONLY NEGATIVELY AFFECT SERUM
USERS AND THE IMAGE OF THE SERUM INDUSTRY, BUT
THE LONG TERM VIABILITY OF FBS AS A PRODUCT.
ISIA MUST INTENSIFY EFFORTS TO EDUCATE AND TO
PROMOTE THE HARMONIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL
IMPORT RULES.
FETAL BOVINE SERUM HANDOUT TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
7
about the safety of different
sources. The concept that
Oceania is safer is still part of
some marketing campaigns,
even after BSE has been found
to be a spontaneous event in all
cattle populations (Nobel Prize
winner Stanley Pruziner), and
it has been determined by OIE
not to be transmitted by blood
products.
Cases of FBS fraud can be
elaborate, with an extremely low
probability of being detected.
This type of activity can only
be eradicated by eliminating
economic incentives, via
science, education, and
harmonization.
The damage done to researchers
and other serum users includes
inexact or invalidated results in
research and diagnostics, virus
risks, product recalls, etc. From
a financial viewpoint, losses
include costs of lost research,
plus the difference between
FBS prices actually paid and
the much lower prices that
should have been paid for the
same product if it had been
justly declared. The damage to
competitors consists of lost FBS
business and the cross-effects
on sales of media, reagents,
plastics, and equipment.
The vast majority of serum
companies have always worked
legally, taking traceability
compliance seriously and
controlling their supply chain.
With the traceability laws that
have been implemented by
the EU and other countries,
as well as the new ownership
of companies historically
associated with questionable
practices, illegal schemes are no
longer likely to happen. Today,
all serum companies adhere to
strict codes of ethics. However,
the risk of misrepresentation
still exists in cases where the
product goes through a chain
of intermediaries. To eliminate
potential illegal activities,
economic incentives must be
attacked at the root, by the
harmonization of import rules
and the education of serum
users and regulators, based on
science.
Fut
ur
e,
Mo
ving F
orw
ar
d
NOTE
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AUTHOR : OLE BODTKER NIELSEN, CEO - BIOWEST THE SERUM SPECIALIST