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2020 ] IN RE : DKMS BMST FOUNDATION INDIA 423
ing services, DKMS-BMST has entered into an agreement with LSL
DE to conduct various kinds of HLA testing services. LSL DE per-
forms tests on the samples received from DKMS-BMST. Once the
tests are performed on the samples, the results of the same are
shared by LSL DE through a software named DKMSOne India.
DKMS-BMST shall download the said results from DKMSOne. Fur-
ther, the results are also transferred to World Marrow Donor Asso-
ciation (‘WMDA’) and to HAP-E Search. While WMDA is a global
organisation for anonymized listed donors where physicians can
search for a potential match for their patients from a worldwide da-
tabase of donors maintained by many similar organisations like
DKMS-BMST, HAP E Search is a program owned and operated by
DKMS for physicians to search for a match for their patients out of
the database maintained by DKMS worldwide. On both platforms
(WMDA and HAP-E Search), the donors from India are marked as
DKMS India donors and linked to DKMS-BMST and the HLA test-
ing conducted by LSL DE, DKMS-BMST maintains a register or da-
tabase of donors, including but not limited to HLA typing data re-
quired for donor and patient matching which proves to be an ex-
tremely important database for a patient suffering from blood can-
cer or any blood disorder.
(b) Facilitating the Blood Stem Cell Donation process : If the tissue type
of a potential donor matches with that of a patient, the following
services are provided by DKMS-BMST for potential donors :
(a) Confirmatory Typing (CT) and
(b) Work-Up (WU) process.
Confirmatory Typing Service : The HLA of the potential donor has to
be confirmed again using a blood sample, which is taken from the
donor. The donor’s HLA is again tested and reconfirmed. As part of
the CT services, DKMS-BMST re-sends the buccal swabs of the said
donor to LSL DE to reconfirm the tests before the transplantation
and the results of the same are uploaded on DKMSOne along with a
doctor signed report. Invoices are raised by LSL DE to DKMS-BMST
for such Confirmatory Typing Services as well. Given that DKMS-
BMST is a not for profit organisation, it recovers negligible amount
towards such HLA typing services received from its overseas labor-
atory.
Work-Up Service : Additionally, to rule out any infectious diseases,
which could potentially put the patient’s health at risk, the donor’s
blood is tested for any infectious diseases such as hepatitis etc. After
that, once the patient’s treating doctor selects the potential donor,
the donor finally decides whether he/she would like to proceed
with the blood stem cell donation. This is where the work-up pro-
cess begins. DKMS-BMST provides work-up services to transplant
centres in India and outside. This includes the co-ordination be-
tween blood stem cell donor, the collection centre (medical facility
where the blood stem cell collection takes place) and the transplant

GST LAW TIMES  21st May 2020  177