Cord Blood

Cord Blood Banking Facility Comes up in Kolkata

Set-up at a cost of Rs 10 crore, the umbilical cord blood storage facility has come up on Diamond Harbour Road

Kolkata-based Strassenburg Pharmaceuticals, the leading pharma manufacturing company of the region, has diversified to set up Eastern India's biggest 'umbilical cord blood stem cell banking' facility in partnership with a Singapore based firm.

CordLife Sciences India Private Limited, an equity-partnership company between Singapore-based cord blood banking major CordLife Limited and the city-based pharma company has been set up for implementing the project. Said Deepnath Roy Chowdhury, Managing Director, Strassenburg Pharmaceuticals Limited, "We hope this futuristic knowledge based venture will help us to keep pace with the changing needs of the pharmaceutical industry."

Set-up at a cost of Rs 10 crore, the umbilical cord blood storage facility has come up on Diamond Harbour Road adjacent to Strassenburg manufacturing facility. This advanced facility has a storage capacity for up to 1,50,000 cord blood units to support such stem cell therapies. Licensed by the Drug Controller General of India, CordLife is able to collect cord blood units from across the country. The Australian Stock Exchange listed CordLife Group received the 2007 World Economic Forum’s ‘Technology Pioneer’ award for developing stem cell therapies.

It operates a network of globally accredited cord blood banking facilities in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and now India to support the Group's aspirations to develop stem cell therapies for heart ailments, diabetes and skin trauma. It aims to be the leading stem cell bio-technology company, offering the highest quality of stem cell banking, supportive R&D and regenerative medicine globally.

During pregnancy, the umbilical cord functions as a lifeline between the mother and child. Cord blood or 'placental blood' is the blood remaining in the umbilical cord and plancenta following birth and after the cord is cut and is routinely discarded with the placenta and umbilical cord.

Estimates reveal, globally expectant parents are storing cord blood for their families, not only as a potential life-saving resource for current uses of stem cells, but also for their future potential. Cord blood, with its rich source of non-controversial blood stem cells, can be used to treat over 80 diseases today, including cancers such as leukaemia and breast cancer, blood disorders like thalassemia major and other immunodeficiencies.

At the city facility, CordLife Sciences India collects, processes and stores adult stem cells, which may later become potential source material for life-saving treatments. Parents can preserve the cord blood of their new-borns for a one-time fee of Rs 38,000 and an annual processing charge of Rs 3,500.

The cord blood will remain the property of the child for life, and will act as a source of stem cells for autologous and sibling transplants or for cellular therapies in future. Cord blood stem cells are already commonly used to treat several types of blood cancers and various inherited disorders.

Steven Fang, Group CEO, CordLife Limited who was in the city recently at the launch of the facility said, "CordLife is committed to spend around Rs 30 crore more to make stem cell therapy a reality and cord blood banking accessible throughout India."

Out of the total amount, the Group has already invested to the tune of Rs 10 crore in setting up the Kolkata facility. The remaining amount will be spend on awareness programmes, CMEs, lecture sessions featuring medical professionals and setting-up of marketing offices and more such storage facilities around the country. "We are confident that the applications of cord blood stem cells will grow in India," said Fang. We plan to have a pan-Indian presence in the coming years, he added.

Meghnath Roy Chowdhury, Managing Director, CordLife India said: "We are already present in the major cities of the East. Besides, Kolkata, CordLife India has set up marketing and collection facilities in Bhubaneswar, Siliguri, Durgapur and other places." “We would soon expand our horizons. Now we are eyeing major metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore,” added Roy Chowdhury.

As part of its marketing exercise, CordLife India has already tied up with several private-run hospitals in Kolkata and is in the process of forging more such alliances. "Cord Blood has become a very common source of stem cells for transplantations today. Thousands of patients around the world have received a new lease on their lives. We are pleased to be able to offer this miracle of life to the Indian community," said Prof Mark Kirkland, Medical Director, BioCell, an associate of CordLife Limited.

Joy Roy Choudhury