Family Cord Blood Banks Down Under

INTERNET:  www.cryosite.com  or cordblood.cryosite.com
PHONE: Free phone 1-800-220-410, or  +61 2 8865 2001
OFFICE: Sydney, Australia
STORAGE: Sydney, Australia
TGA: full license (TGA License number MI-18072008-MI-002488-11)

COMMENT:
Cryosite's Australian Cord Blood Service was the first private cord blood bank in Australia.  Cryosite is a public listed diversified biotechnology company (ASX symbol CTE)

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Cryosite has a full Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) license to process, store, and release cord blood.
• All Cryosite facilities are fully accredited by the TGA as GMP compliant. Cryosite also holds NATA (ISO 15189 and IS0 17025) accreditation.
  
• Cryosite's cryogenic storage facilities are also licensed by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and the New South Wales Department of Health.
• Cryosite processes cord blood with an automated volume reduction method called the Baxtr Optipress, and stores cord blood units in two individual bags.
• Cryosite all inclusive price of $2995 includes 18 years storage.
• There are no hidden costs or administrative fees or late registration fees. 
• There are no additional transport charges for regional areas or for weekends or public holidays.
• Unlike other companies that market cord blood services in Australia, Cryosite does not contract out the processing or storage of cord blood to third parties.
• Cryosite is a member of the Asia Pacific Cord Blood Bank Consortium
  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Cryosite has been in business for more than a decade, was the first private cord blood bank in Australia, and was the first to be fully licensed by the TGA.  Cryosite has recently relocated its operations to a new state-of-the-art 2200m2 facility in Sydney.  Construction of the new facility was completed in October 2009 and now houses all of Cryosite’s services.  These services include: private cord blood storage, clinical trial logistics, bio-repository management and specialized distribution services.  The new facility are two GMP standard clean room laboratories. One laboratory is dedicated to the routine processing and testing of cord blood samples.  The second is a dedicated R&D laboratory that will allow Cryosite to become involved in partnerships on a range of stem cell associated projects, including the manufacture of advanced cellular therapy products for clinical trials.

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INTERNET: biocell.com.au or www.cellsense.com.au
PHONE: BioCell 1-800 071 075 (24/7) CellSense 1-800-005-541
OFFICE: Melbourne, Australia
STORAGE: laboratory in Sydney Adventist Hospital, Sydney, Australia
TGA:  full license

COMMENTS:
In Dec. 2008, the two Australian cord blood banks, BioCell and CellSense, both of Melbourne, merged to form Australian Stem Cell Healthcare, now the largest family bank in the country.  They are building their own lab and plan to open it in spring 2010.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Australian Stem Cell Healthcare has a full Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) license to process, store, and release cord blood.
• Laboratory and collection procedure are cGMP compliant.
• Cord blood processing is performed manually by qualified biotechnologists.
• Final storage is in blood bags in the vapour phase of liquid nitrogen.
• BioCell processing fee includes first year storage.
• Installment payment plans available.
  
• Parents who are eligible for the Baby Bonus can use it to pay for cord blood banking.
• Discounts on advance storage payments.   Advance storage payments are deposited to a ‘forward storage trust’ account which ensures that the cost of storage will be covered for the life of the contract, regardless of the health of the company.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

BioCell was founded by University of Melbourne haematologist, Associate Professor Mark Kirkland.  In Nov. 2005, the multi-national cord blood bank CordLife, publicly traded on the Australian stock exchange (ASX: CBB), purchased a 51% stake of BioCell.  Dr. Kirkland is also the Chief Scientific Officer of Cytomatrix Pty Ltd, a stem cell research company owned by CordLife. 

CellSense was founded by Anthony (Tony) Coulepis, PhD, who is also the founder of AusBiotech biotechnology industry organization in Australia.  Cellsense is a subsidiary of listed company Stirling Resources (ASX:SRE).

The merger of the two in Dec. 2008 to form Australian Stem Cell Healthcare was achieved through the issue of BioCell shares. Both Kirkland and Coulepis sit on the board of the new company and will form the executive management team.

In April 2006, parent company CordLife gave a grant enabling BioCell to offer free cord blood banking for siblings of children with Cystic Fibrosis, the most common genetic disorder in Australia (1 in 2500 births).   As of May 2007, 25 siblings of CF patients had banked cord blood under this program.  Currently (2010) Prof. Williamson at U. Melbourne is working on Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis.

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INTERNET: www.cordbank.co.nz; Email info@cordbank.co.nz  
PHONE: +64 9 302 9511
OFFICE: Parnell, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand

COMMENT: New Zealand's first private cord blood bank. Co-founded by Dr. Mary Birdsall, an obstetrician and fertility specialist. Website in English; brochures available in Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Price includes return shipping of the collection kit.
  
• Discount 15% on lab processing & 1st year storage fee for multiple births.
• Discount 10% on lab processing for sibling of previous customer.
  
• Prepay 18 years of storage for NZ$2,500
• Financing is available.
  
• Free training program available for for Lead Maternity Centers.

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INTERNET: www.stemlife.com.au
PHONE: +61 1300 553 474
OFFICE: HQ in Brisbane, Australia; also offices in Melbourne and Sydney
STORAGE: laboratory in Brisbane Private Hospital, Australia
TGA:  Therapeutic Goods Administration license to process and store cord blood.

COMMENTS:
The Australian company StemLife is privately owned.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• TGA License number MI-19042007-LI-001830-11
• StemLife of Australia is no relation to Stemlife of Malaysia and Thailand.
  
• The staff of StemLife have backgrounds in obstetrics and infertility services.
• StemLife emphasizes personalised customer service.
  
• No enrollment fee; price includes courier service.
  
• StemLife collects and stores in bags; their processing method is to separate MonoNuclear Cells completely by centrifuge.
• Storage fee is $120 the first year and $55 thereafter.  Discounts on prepaid storage for 18 years.

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