The first-year costs of establishing an unrelated bone marrow donor registry

The cost of therapies like bone marrow transplantation has been an important consideration for several decades. Bone marrow transplantation is becoming increasingly accepted as an effective treatment for hematologic disorders, including acute nonlymphocytic leukemia. To find suitable donors, bone marrow donor registries are being developed. The first-year costs of establishing an unrelated bone marrow donor registry are reported here. First-year costs are largely due to personnel costs and HLA typing charges. The cost per registrant decreases over time, but further decreases due to economies of scale are limited by the continued fixed requirement for HLA typing. Data are presented by separating costs into six unique categories, thereby allowing other blood centers to estimate start-up costs based on our experience.