Daxor Announces Two Live Births from the World's Longest Successfully Stored Sperm (21 and 28 Years).

NEW YORK -- Daxor Corporation (AMEX: DXR), a medical instrumentation and biotechnology company, today announced the publication of a case report documenting two successful pregnancies following insemination with semen cryopreserved for 21 and 28 years. The father stored his sperm in 1972 at the age of 28. This is the world record for the longest cryopreservation of semen resulting in live births. The successful pregnancies were additionally notable because they were achieved using intrauterine artificial insemination, rather than the more complex surgical procedure of in vitro fertilization.

The case report was published in the October 2005 issue of Fertility and Sterility. Authors included Joseph Feldshuh, MD, and James Brassel, MD, of Idant Laboratories; Nancy Durso, MD, of the Mid-Atlantic Fertility Center in Bethesda, MD; and Allen Levine, MD, of the Orange OB/GYN Association in Middletown, NY.

The semen was stored at Idant Laboratories, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daxor Corporation founded in 1971. Idant Laboratories uses a unique carousel canister system for storing and retrieving individual specimens. In contrast to the more commonly used rack and cane system, this method allows for retrieval of individual specimens without removing any other specimens from continuous liquid nitrogen immersion. The rack and cane system may expose specimens to room air multiple times. Even brief exposure to room temperature air may contribute to loss of sperm vitality over time. "At the present time, the FDA does not mandate proof of effectiveness of viable semen storage," said Dr. Joseph Feldschuh, president of Daxor and former laboratory director of Idant. Only a few semen storage facilities in the United States use the carousel canister system. Idant is one of a small number of semen storage facilities accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks.

The majority of patients who store their sperm do so to preserve fertility following treatment for cancer. The Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded by Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who successfully fathered children using cryopreserved sperm, supports mandatory insurance coverage of semen storage prior to cancer treatment. Currently, insurance coverage of this procedure varies according to individual companies and policies.