Private Cord Blood Banks in Canada

Cord blood regulations in Canada are explained on the page "Cord Blood Regulations by Nationality".  Health Canada requires blood tests which may be charged separately from the bank processing.  Canadian banks cannot bank cord blood for US citizens unless they are registered with the FDA.  The page "Table of Company Features and Pricing" provides a head-to-head list of banks in Canada showing their prices and accreditations.

INTERNET: www.ccbr.ca
PHONE: 1-888-818-2673 or 780-439-8606
OFFICE & STORAGE: Alberta Cord Blood Bank, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

COMMENT: The Canadian Cord Blood Registry is a private bank based at the Alberta Cord Blood Bank, Canada's first public cord blood bank founded in 1996.

Alberta Cord Blood Bank accepts donations from anywhere in Canada.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Medical Director of Canadian Cord Blood Registry is John J. Akabutu, M.D., the founder of Canada's first public cord blood bank at Alberta Cord Blood Bank.
• Canadian Cord Blood Registry was formed in late 2004 to offer a private banking option at the Alberta Cord Blood Bank.
  
• In July 2005 the private business was acquired by Cell Therapy Technologies (CTT), a privately held cell therapy and regenerative medicine company.
• Cord blood is processed the same for public or private collections, hence private samples also undergo cell counts and viablity testing.
• Health Canada last inspected the bank in Oct 2005 and pronounced them in compliance with regulations in March 2006.
  
• Processing method is a unique procedure developed at the Alberta Cord Blood Bank and published by H. Yang etal. 2001.  They use the chemical pentastarch to aide volume reduction, and the final storage is not actually "mononuclear cells" (MNC), but "leukocyte concentrate".
• Contract does not include courier service.
• First year storage is included in processing fee.
• Prepay storage for 5 or 10 years at a discount.
  

INTERNET: www.cellsforlife.com 
PHONE: 905-472-0060
OFFICES: Markham, ON; Toronto, ON; Montreal, QC
STORAGE: Toronto General Hospital

COMMENT: 
Cells for Life was founded in 1997; starting in 2003 Cells for Life established a philanthropic division offering public banking, Victoria Angel Registry of Hope.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• The laboratory of Cells for Life uses a stem cell processing method which spins the blood to separate components, and then a device called the Baxter Optipress reduces the volume of the "buffy coat", the layer of blood which contains white cells and stem cells.  This is one of several standard methods of processing stem cells.
• Cells for Life both collects and stores blood in bags.
• Within the Greater Toronto area, Cells for Life provides courier pick-up from the mother's bedside.  Otherwise, prices do not include shipping.
  
• Fees are $95 for collection kit (non-refundable), $550 processing for first child (for twins $400 each) and an additional $175 for blood tests required by AABB (including West Nile Virus).  Storage fee is $115.
• For subsequent children, processing is $500 and storage is $95.
• No extra fees for late registration.
  
• Cells for Life has several outreach programs:  On-line question & answer forum "Ask Our Expert", multi-lingual staff (covering Cantonese, French, Hebrew, Macedonian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Urdu), and education programs for parents and medical personnel.
  
• Low-income families can apply for a reduced fee program.
  
• Medical need program offers free processing with physician referral.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Cells for Life was founded in 1997 by Michael R. Virro, MD, FRCSC, and has been under the same ownership ever since.  Cells for Life pricing has increased only once in Jan 2005.  The original laboratory of Cells for Life was in the Markham Stouffville Health Center, in Ontario just outside Toronto, but was moved to Toronto General Hospital in 2007.  Their public bank, Victoria Angel Registry of Hope, lists donations on the registry of the  World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA), which lists them as the 3rd fastest growing public bank in 2007.

Back to top

INTERNET: www.cordbloodbankofcanada.com
PHONE: (905) 943-4933
OFFICE: Markham, Ontario, Canada

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• If the cord blood is contaminated in the delivery process, or if the stem cell count of the processed cord blood is below the minimum desired for transplant, the parents will be advised of their options.
• Flexible payment options.

Back to top

INTERNET: www.createcordbank.com
PHONE: 1-888-494-0003 or 416-813-4700
OFFICE & STORAGE: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Director of CReATe Cord Blood Bank is Clifford Librach, M.D., FRCS(C), FACOG (REI).  Dr. Librach is an OB/Gyn who specializes in reproductive endocrinology and infertility; he is also Director of the Fertility Centre at Sunnybrook & Women’s College Hospital in Toronto.
• Sample processing based on New York Blood Center protocol.
• Long-term storage in a BioArchive freezer from Thermogenesis
• Additional charges may apply: $130 for blood testing (includes West Nile Virus & CD34) and $45 for microbiology testing.
  
• First year storage included in processing fee.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
According to 29 June 2006 University of Toronto News, Create Cord Blood Bank (CCBB) will soon offer the ability to  bank the stem cells from the "Wharton's jelly" of the umbilical cord, which surrounds the blood vessels carrying cord blood.  Recent reserach has shown that both Wharton's jelly and the placenta itself are rich in mesenchymal progenitor stem cells, which are multi-potent.  The new service will operate in the same lab by a partner company named Tissue Regeneration Therapeutics (TRT).  The scientist behidn TRT is University of Toronto professor John E. Davies.

Back to top

INTERNET: healthcord.com
PHONE: 1-877-714-6361
OFFICE & STORAGE: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Sample processing based on the New York Blood Center protocol, except that the separation chemical pentastarch is used instead of hetastarch.
• Long-term storage is in nitrogen vapor.
  
• Healthcord offers a  "Families-In-Need" Charity Program for families with a history of diseases that are treatable with stem cells. 
  

Back to top

INTERNET: www.hemastem.com
PHONE: 800-203-7349
OFFICE: Main Office Located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
STORAGE: Alternate labs for Canada & USA:
Canada lab is Stem Sciences Inc. in North York, Ontario
USA lab is Community Blood Services, in NJ.

COMMENT: HemaStem, aka HemaLife, are privately owned.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• For Canadian customers, laboratory services are provided by Stem Sciences, Inc. in North York (Toronto area), Ontario, CA.
• Storage may be denied if blood fails infectious disease testing.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
HemaStem Therapeutics was founded in 2004 as a subsidiary of Geneticas Life Sciences, which provided a patented StemGuard [TM] collection kit.  Genetics Life Sciences was primarily in the business of cloning and genetically engineering pets.  One subsidiary, Allerca, was devoted to the creation of hypoallergenic cats.  In late 2004 a vicious lawsuit erupted between Transgenic Pets LLC versus Allerca and Geneticas.  Apparently the parent company Geneticas has since been disbanded.


Back to top

INTERNET: www.insception.com;  Email info@insception.com  
PHONE: 905-206-2799 (toll free 1-866-606-2790)
OFFICE & STORAGE: Mississauga, Ontario.

COMMENT: Insception Biosciences acquired the Toronto Cord Blood Programme at Mt. Sinai Hospital, which had been banking since 1996.  Insception has maintained the founding leadership, but moved the operations from Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital to a new processing and storage facility in Mississauga, Ontario to accommodate growth and the Health Canada requirements.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Insception operates cord blood clinics at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and Harmony Medical Clinic in Ottawa.  At these sites a registered nurse is on staff and families can register to donate cord blood for research.
  
• At the Insception facility, the laboratory operates 24/7.  All laboratory staff are registered MLT's and all clinical consultants are RN's.
• Cord blood is processed manually by technicians, using PentaStarch reagent and spinning in a centrifuge.  Insception will not adopt automated processing unless their tests show the recovery rates to be higher than their manual system.
  
• Prices do not include courier fees, which are provided by a medical courier and vary with location.
• Prices include West Nile Virus screening, which is performed in all cases as part of maternal infectious disease screening.
  
• First year of storage included in initial fee.
• Payment plans are available.
  
• Insception provides a Medical Need Program to provide free cord blood banking when a member of the family has an immediate need for a stem cell transplant.
• Insception also manages two philanthropic funds to help Canadian families in financial need: the Feldberg Fund sponsored by Mt. Sinai Hospital and Maxine's Hope sponsored by a private charity.
  
• As of Feb 2008, Insception Biosciences claims to be the largest cord blood bank in Canada, with an inventory of 25,000 cord blood collections, and 13 transplants, of which 6 were autologous.
  

ADDITONAL INFORMATION:

In 2004, Insception Biosciences acquired the Toronto Cord Blood Programme (1-877-827-2202), Canada's oldest private cord blood bank which was launched in 1996 and operated out of Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. The program had outgrown the space available at the hospital. Moreover, in Sept 2003 the Canadian Ministry of Health issued new standards for cell and tissue banking. These standards required a costly upgrade to the cord blood facilities at Mount Sinai Hospital. To maintain the viability and growth of the program, it was transfered to Insception Biosciences, and moved to a new $1 million, 7,250 sq. ft. facility in Mississauga, Ontario, where the cord blood will be processed in clean rooms.

Insception Biosciences has retained the founding leadership of the Toronto Cord Blood Programme:  Founders Robert Casper, M.D., or Ian Rogers, Ph.D. are available to speak to medical professionals about cord blood research and applications.

Back to top

INTERNET: www.lifebank.com
PHONE: 888-888-7836 (North America)
OFFICE & STORAGE: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

COMMENT: Publicly traded: symbol LBK; The first Canadian cord blood bank to be accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). Website in English, French, and Chinese

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• The first (Mar2005) Canadian cord blood bank to be accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
• As of April 2005, the Medical Director of Lifebank is Dr. Anil K. Mangal. Dr. Mangal was previously a medical director with the Canadian Blood Services (BC & Yukon Centre) from 1997 to 2001 (press release).
• If the stem cell count is below minimum amount recommended for a transplant, Lifebank will advise parents of their options.
• Discount to prepay storage for 15 years for $1500; installment plans available through Credit Medical Corporation.

ADDITONAL INFORMATION:

• As of Oct 30, 2002, Lifebank Cryogenics Corp. completed an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to become Canada's first publicly listed stem cell storage company (symbol: LBK). Further information available from Kevan Bates of Yorkton Securities, Ltd.
• In a 26 Jan 2004 press release, Lifebank announced a strategic partnership with one of the largest obstetrical groups in Ottawa. The "Civic Group" from the Civic Campus of The Ottawa Hospital is composed of 14 obstetricians who deliver approximately 3,200 babies per year.

Back to top

INTERNET: www.progenicscryobank.com
PHONE: 1-866-398-7778 (North America) or 416-221-1666
OFFICE & STORAGE: Toronto, Ontario.

COMMENT:
Progenics laboratory uses a unique, research based, processing method.
Website in English, French, and Chinese.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Scientific Director Dr. Hongyou Yang has worked for nearly 20 years in the Stem Cell Laboratory of the Canadian Blood Services, and for 10 years in cord blood banking.  He has published several medical articles on stem cell and cord blood cryopreservation.
  
• The processing method is a unique procedure developed by Dr. Yang to reduce sample volume.  Progenics uses the chemical pentastarch to aide volume reduction, and the final storage is not actually "mononuclear cells" (MNC), but "leukocyte concentrate".
  
• Additional charges may apply for: maternal blood testing and cord blood sterility culture $175.
• If requested, courier service is provided by Air Logistics Services (1-886-882-8865)
  
• Courier service is FREE for babies born in the Greater Toronto Area, and a special rate is available for major cities in Canada.
  
• Storage fee is fixed at $110 per year.
• Discounts are available for multiple births and prepaid long-term storage.
• Payment plans available.
• Progenics website offers on-line registration, and the lab offers free consultations and tours.
  
• If the cord blood is needed for transplant, there will be NO CHARGE for retrieval.
  

Back to top

INTERNET: www.stemsciences.com; Email info@stemsciences.com
PHONE: 1-866-730-0800
OFFICE & STORAGE: North York (Toronto area), Ontario, Canada

COMMENT: Stem Sciences was founded by Ayub Lulat, PhD , formerly the Director of R&D at the Canadian bank Cells for Life , also in Ontario. Website in English and French.

SERVICES & DISCOUNT OPTIONS:

• Stem Sciences is the first Canadian bank to use a BioArchive freezer from Thermogenesis.
• Sample processing based on New York Blood Center protocol.
• Courier charges are not included. They recommend Air Logistics at 1-866-882-8865 or Disher Courier at 1-800-463-1035.
• Price does not include first year of storage.
• If testing of maternal or cord blood detects any disease, sample will not be stored.

Back to top