The recent closure and insolvency of Ovom Care's Portuguese fertility operation has highlighted the vulnerability of patients when a provider can no longer operate. It raises an important question for everyone involved in fertility care: what safeguards should protect patients and their biological material if something goes wrong?
when healthcare and business priorities ‘misalign’
The recent insolvency of Ovom Care’s Portuguese clinic has raised difficult questions about what happens to patients and their biological material when a healthcare business can no longer operate. Ovom Care said that planned financing “did not come through as expected” and that, without it, the clinic could not continue to operate safely.[2] In a subsequent interview, CEO Felicia von Reden addressed the circumstances surrounding the closure and its impact on patients.[6]
Former Ovom Care executive and Ovom co-founder Dr Cristina Hickman has expressed her frustration at a “misalignment between healthcare and private equity priorities” and argued that the consequences of business failure should not fall on patients: “Businesses can fail. Investors can lose money. But patients should not carry the consequences of how that failure is managed.”[5]
The situation highlights an important principle for any organisation entrusted with human biological material: business continuity, regulatory compliance and patient protection cannot be treated as separate considerations. As Hickman writes, “patients deserve better.”
Ethical by design
At Biovault Technical, our expertise in processing and storing human cells and tissue spans more than two decades, including cord blood and tissue processing through Biovault Family, and our ongoing storage of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and CAR_T material for various applications. As we extend this expertise into fertility, our commitment is clear: patient protection must be designed into every stage of processing, storage and continuity, with robust safeguards in place long before they are ever needed.
We can’t prevent every business from facing financial or operational difficulties. We can, however, build systems and safeguards so that an unexpected event doesn’t become a failure of patient protection.
As Biovault Managing Director Ben Charles puts it: “The infrastructure behind cellular medicine is just as crucial as the science.”[13]
5 key ways Biovault protects against failure
1. Regulated to the highest standards
Biovault operates within a highly regulated framework, with licences and accreditations from the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), JACIE and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Our Quality Management System is regularly audited, providing independent oversight of the processes governing processing, storage and distribution.[3]
2. Resilient processing and storage
Our Plymouth facility has been designed with resilience in mind. Three independent Grade B cleanrooms provide built-in contingency, while cryogenic storage is supported by independent liquid gas supplies, an Uninterruptible Power Supply, generator capability and other backup systems.[4]
The aim is simple: eliminate single points of failure wherever possible and maintain the integrity of biological material even when individual systems encounter problems.
3. 24/7 monitoring and response
Biological material needs protection outside office hours. Remote monitoring, automated alerts and dedicated 24/7 on-call staff allow potential problems to be identified and acted upon quickly.[4]
Our approach to temperature monitoring is deliberately proactive. Alarm thresholds are set to provide time to intervene before a product reaches its defined storage limit, allowing corrective action or transfer to a backup system where necessary.[11]
4. Termination-of-activity plans
Continuity planning should not begin when an organisation is already in crisis.
A responsible processing and storage provider needs a clear plan for what happens if an activity, service or facility has to close. This includes protecting biological material and records, maintaining traceability, identifying alternative arrangements and ensuring that responsibilities are clearly defined.
For us, contingency planning is part of the service, not an afterthought. We already provide contingency and business continuity support to hospitals, universities and other organisations holding critical biological materials.[1]
5. A back-up escrow facility
For fertility patients, the question is not simply where material is stored today, but what happens if the organisation responsible for that storage can no longer provide the service.
Our back-up escrow facility provides an additional layer of protection, giving our clients, patients and their biological material a defined alternative destination if the primary provider is unable to continue. The objective is to make continuity possible without waiting for a crisis to determine what happens next.
Putting the patient first
The Ovom Care insolvency is a reminder that fertility treatment combines healthcare, highly personal decisions and precious biological material with the realities of running a business. Those interests will not always align perfectly.
That is precisely why safeguards need to be established before they are needed.
At Biovault, our ethical approach is built around protecting the biological material entrusted to us, maintaining its traceability and integrity, and planning for the unexpected. Because when healthcare and business priorities diverge, the patient and their biological material must always come first.
References
Biovault Technical, Contingency Planning & Business Continuity: Ensuring Uninterrupted Operations.
Ovom Care, Official statement on the closure of Ovom Care Portugal, August 2026.
Plan Your Baby / ARGC UK, Information for Ovom Care patients, August 2026.
Amilis, Ovom Care Clinic Closure: How Amilis Can Support You, 2 September 2026.
CNPMA – Conselho Nacional de Procriação Medicamente Assistida, PMA in Portugal.