Chennai-based Apollo Hospitals and Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals have signed a deal with US-based StemCyte Inc to set up umbilical cord blood (UCB) bank - StemCyteTherapeutics India - in Ahmedabad with an initial investment of $16 million.The new facility will process and store UCB units that will be be used to treat patients thoughout the world.StemCyteTherapeutics India will build an inventory of 25,000 UCB units, which will be available for patients from India and around the world. In addition, the new facility will have a research institute to investigate the use of UCB stem cells for non-hematological diseases like diabetes, stroke, liver and other diseases.Indravadan A Modi, chairman, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, said the new facility will have a capacity to store about 5,000 cord blood units a year. An estimated 3,000-5,000 people die every year in Gujarat alone because they do not have a suitable match for a stem cell.
