Apollo ties up with Stemcyte of U.S.
U.S. firm to collect, process and store cord blood units Â
Apollo Hospitals Group has tied up with Stemcyte, U.S.A., to collect, process and store cord blood cells.
Cord blood contains stem cells that can be used to treat patients with blood disorders, immune deficiency diseases and genetic diseases through a process of cord blood transplantation.
Prathap C. Reddy, executive chairman of Apollo Hospitals, signed a memorandum of understanding with David Carmel, vice president (business development) of Stemcyte on Tuesday at Apollo Heart Centre, Greams Road,chennai
Headquartered in Southern California, Stemcyte collects, processes and stores umbilical cord blood and has about 26,000 cord blood units in registry available for physicians worldwide.
Dr. Reddy said that through this cord blood bank, donors would be encouraged to donate to those in need. Instead of disposing of the umbilical cord, as is being done now, the preserved cord blood could be used on unrelated patients, he said.
The tie-up would involve training of physicians in cord blood transplantation through seminars and fellowships. Besides setting up cord blood banks in India, various collection centres and screening labs would be started in six months, he added.
Mr. Carmel said that Stemcyte, which has storage facilities in California and Taiwan, has supplied cord blood for about 500 transplants performed in 20 countries. About 26 million births occur in India every year. “We expect to collect about 5,000 cord blood units every year through centres in India where the donor does not have to pay for storage.”
The organisation also plans to offer family banking service where the cord blood unit would be used within the family, he added.
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