Kaye
06-28-2010, 05:03 AM
Cord Blood: The Market For Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapies, Public And Private Banking Trends
Literally dozens of approaches are being explored by public and non-public companies in the attempt to link cost efficient stem cell therapies with specific medical uses. These vary from companies that develop and sell stem cell lines for use in research, and companies exploring molecular approaches to stimulating stem cells already available in the body, to medical device companies supplying equipment for the extraction, processing and either reintroduction or storage of stem cells for therapeutic use.
The one area that is not only established, but is enjoying increasing acceptance as the basis for stem cell therapy, is that of cord blood collection, storage, and use in an increasing number of diseases.
Recent studies have shown that cord blood has unique advantages over traditional bone marrow transplantation, particularly in children, and can be life-saving in rare cases where a suitable bone-marrow donor cannot be found. Approximately 50% of patients requiring a bone marrow transplant will not find a suitable donor within a critical period. In certain instances, there may be some medical issues around using one's own cord blood cells, as well as availability of cells, which will require treatments done using cells from another donor, with the vast majority being unrelated donors. However, studies have shown that cord blood stem cells can also be used for siblings and other members of your family who have a matching tissue type. Siblings have up to a 75% chance of compatibility, and the cord blood may even be a match for parents (50%) and grandparents.
Regenerative medicine is a field of medical research developing treatments to repair or re-grow specific tissue in the body. Because a person?s own (autologous) cord blood stem cells can be safely infused back into that individual without being rejected by the body?s immune system - and because they have unique characteristics compared to other sources of stem cells - they are an increasing focus of regenerative medicine research.
That said, using one's own (autologous) cord blood cells might not be wise or effective, especially in cases of childhood cancers and leukemia. Children who develop an immunological disorder often are unable to use their own cord blood for transplant because the blood also contains the same genetic defect. Nearly all of the transplants using privately banked cord blood have gone to relatives with pre-existing conditions, not to the donors. For this reason primarily, the policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics states that "private storage of cord blood as 'biological insurance' is unwise" unless there is a family member with a current or potential need to undergo a stem cell transplantation. Similarly, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not recommend private cord blood banking. The emphasis here is on private. Virtually everyone in the medical world recommends donation of cord blood to public storage banks.
Thus it was particularly interesting to note an event that took place under the media radar. A group of world renown cord blood researchers are forming a PRIVATE cord blood bank under the auspices of their own public cord blood bank called CORD:USE. Apparently these prominent members of the research and academic communities are ahead of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on the potential value of cord blood to the individual who donated it. And since the two medical groups are bureaucracies run by committee, it would be expected that researchers in the field would be more advanced in their thinking. Cord:Use is a non profit public bank that according to its website provides its cord blood storage services as follows:
CORD:USE operations consist of the collection, processing, storage and subsequent delivery of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells found in cord blood to transplant centers worldwide for their patients' needs. CORD:USE collects donated umbilical cord blood, customarily discarded as medical waste following the delivery of an infant, to help treat anyone in need of a potentially lifesaving stem cell transplant. CORD:USE processes these cord blood units at Duke University Medical Center under the supervision of Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, a pioneer and a world leader in cord blood stem cell transplantation. Dr. Kurtzberg is the Medical Director of the CORD:USE Cord Blood Bank at Duke University. CORD:USE stores its cord blood units in the BioArchive? state-of-the-art, cryogenic freezer distributed by GE Healthcare, until they are needed for use in a transplant.
Our note: The BioArchive is a product of our sector company Thermogenesis Corp.
The world renowned team of researchers includes Drs. Hal Broxmeyer, Joanne Kurtzberg, John Wagner, Eliane Gluckman and Alan Levine. You can read about a short summary of their qualifications here.
As far as we know, this is the first researcher prompted private cord blood bank.
Global cord blood stem cells market for 2010 is estimated at about US$4.5 billion. The market is further projected to register a robust Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 27.3% during the period 2006-2015 to reach US$15 billion by 2015.
Today China Cord Blood Corporation (NYSE: CO), China's leading provider of cord blood collection, laboratory testing, stem cell processing, and storage services reported a fiscal year 2010 increase in revenue of 34.4% and a 30.5% increase in subscribers.
Adapted from various sources including the PR Newswire announcement.
Literally dozens of approaches are being explored by public and non-public companies in the attempt to link cost efficient stem cell therapies with specific medical uses. These vary from companies that develop and sell stem cell lines for use in research, and companies exploring molecular approaches to stimulating stem cells already available in the body, to medical device companies supplying equipment for the extraction, processing and either reintroduction or storage of stem cells for therapeutic use.
The one area that is not only established, but is enjoying increasing acceptance as the basis for stem cell therapy, is that of cord blood collection, storage, and use in an increasing number of diseases.
Recent studies have shown that cord blood has unique advantages over traditional bone marrow transplantation, particularly in children, and can be life-saving in rare cases where a suitable bone-marrow donor cannot be found. Approximately 50% of patients requiring a bone marrow transplant will not find a suitable donor within a critical period. In certain instances, there may be some medical issues around using one's own cord blood cells, as well as availability of cells, which will require treatments done using cells from another donor, with the vast majority being unrelated donors. However, studies have shown that cord blood stem cells can also be used for siblings and other members of your family who have a matching tissue type. Siblings have up to a 75% chance of compatibility, and the cord blood may even be a match for parents (50%) and grandparents.
Regenerative medicine is a field of medical research developing treatments to repair or re-grow specific tissue in the body. Because a person?s own (autologous) cord blood stem cells can be safely infused back into that individual without being rejected by the body?s immune system - and because they have unique characteristics compared to other sources of stem cells - they are an increasing focus of regenerative medicine research.
That said, using one's own (autologous) cord blood cells might not be wise or effective, especially in cases of childhood cancers and leukemia. Children who develop an immunological disorder often are unable to use their own cord blood for transplant because the blood also contains the same genetic defect. Nearly all of the transplants using privately banked cord blood have gone to relatives with pre-existing conditions, not to the donors. For this reason primarily, the policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics states that "private storage of cord blood as 'biological insurance' is unwise" unless there is a family member with a current or potential need to undergo a stem cell transplantation. Similarly, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not recommend private cord blood banking. The emphasis here is on private. Virtually everyone in the medical world recommends donation of cord blood to public storage banks.
Thus it was particularly interesting to note an event that took place under the media radar. A group of world renown cord blood researchers are forming a PRIVATE cord blood bank under the auspices of their own public cord blood bank called CORD:USE. Apparently these prominent members of the research and academic communities are ahead of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on the potential value of cord blood to the individual who donated it. And since the two medical groups are bureaucracies run by committee, it would be expected that researchers in the field would be more advanced in their thinking. Cord:Use is a non profit public bank that according to its website provides its cord blood storage services as follows:
CORD:USE operations consist of the collection, processing, storage and subsequent delivery of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells found in cord blood to transplant centers worldwide for their patients' needs. CORD:USE collects donated umbilical cord blood, customarily discarded as medical waste following the delivery of an infant, to help treat anyone in need of a potentially lifesaving stem cell transplant. CORD:USE processes these cord blood units at Duke University Medical Center under the supervision of Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, a pioneer and a world leader in cord blood stem cell transplantation. Dr. Kurtzberg is the Medical Director of the CORD:USE Cord Blood Bank at Duke University. CORD:USE stores its cord blood units in the BioArchive? state-of-the-art, cryogenic freezer distributed by GE Healthcare, until they are needed for use in a transplant.
Our note: The BioArchive is a product of our sector company Thermogenesis Corp.
The world renowned team of researchers includes Drs. Hal Broxmeyer, Joanne Kurtzberg, John Wagner, Eliane Gluckman and Alan Levine. You can read about a short summary of their qualifications here.
As far as we know, this is the first researcher prompted private cord blood bank.
Global cord blood stem cells market for 2010 is estimated at about US$4.5 billion. The market is further projected to register a robust Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 27.3% during the period 2006-2015 to reach US$15 billion by 2015.
Today China Cord Blood Corporation (NYSE: CO), China's leading provider of cord blood collection, laboratory testing, stem cell processing, and storage services reported a fiscal year 2010 increase in revenue of 34.4% and a 30.5% increase in subscribers.
Adapted from various sources including the PR Newswire announcement.