StemCyte India bats for public banking of cord-blood stem cell

Global cord blood player StemCyte India is set to beef up operations in India to promote public banking of Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) stem cells.
StemCyte Inc USA chairman Kenneth Giacen today visited the city. The company has its sole UCB storage facility in India at the Apollo hospital here.
"At present, we are having 1,000 units of UCB as public inventory. We are aiming to build at least 5,000 units in India, which lags behind in donating UCB, which can be used to save others," said Giacen.
UCB stem cells are acquired from the umbilical cord of a new-born child and stored at freezing temperatures for future use. They can be used in treating thalassemia, cancer, etc.

Though private banking of UCB for a fee is becoming popular, the concept of public inventory, where the cord blood is donated for free, is yet to gain momentum, said company COO Deepak Chhabra.
"There are roughly 8 to 10 firms in India which are into private banking, which can cost you. But, we are the only player offering public banking, which can save others and no money is charged by us," he said.

"Who ever agrees to offer the UCB of their child, is given a membership card, which allows them to access UCB of other donors from our public bank," said Chhabra.

"Gujarat is a hub of thalassemia patients. Though it can be cured using someone else's UCB stem cells, we are only having 1,000 UCB public inventory with us in India, which is not enough," he said.
"For those who don't go for paid private banking, the umbilical cord is nothing but a bio-waste, which is thrown away. We are here to make an appeal that it can be used to save others and in return, it automatically gives safety cover to donor's child too," said Chhabra.