Industry Insider Page

Many vendors and business analysts use this website to research companies as potential customers or investments.  Originally, the description of each company on the USA Family Bank Page had its complete corporate history and partnerships summarized under "Additional Information".  As the industry matured, some of the corporate histories became rather lengthy.  Those companies with extensive R&D partnerships also had long descriptions.  The length of the Additional Information section was becoming cumbersome for parents who were simply comparison shopping the service features of family banks.

To simplify matters, this Industry Insider page was created at the end of 2009.  It is a repository of the full corporate information for USA Family Banks.  This page is not listed in alphabetical order, it is listed with sponsors of this web site on top.  However, the left margin contains an alphabetic list which can be used to jump to a specific bank.

COMPANY: ViaCord
INTERNET: www.viacord.com  
PHONE: 866-668-4895
OFFICE: Cambridge, MA
STORAGE: Hebron, KY, outside Cincinnati, OH.
ACCREDITATION: AABB, CA, MD, IL, KY, NJ, NY

COMMENT: Viacord is one of the original private cord blood banks and is now a subsidiary of PerkinElmer, a global healthcare company which also provides prenatal testing and newborn screening. 

Experience:

• As of July 2009, ViaCord claims an inventory of over 200,000 cord blood units.
• As of Dec. 2009, the ViaCord and CHORI partnership has released over 175 transplants, including more than 30 treatments for Cerebral Palsy or Type 1 Diabetes.

Corporate History:

• ViaCord is one of the original private cord blood banks, commencing banking in 1995.  Initially ViaCord contracted laboratory services to the Hoxworth Blood Center at the Univ. of Cincinnati, and they stored whole blood.
• In summer 2002, ViaCord began operating their own lab and storage facility in Hebron, KY (outside Cincinnati, OH) and began processing cord blood to separate stem cells (MNC).  The existing inventory at Hoxworth was moved to Hebron.
  
• In April 2000, ViaCord merged with t. Breeders, a biotech company founded by Morey Kraus in 1994.  The merged company was named ViaCell, Inc. and received $11million in equity capital from three investors.  The ViaCord cord blood bank became a subsidiary of ViaCell.
• The CEO of ViaCell was Marc Beer, a former officer of Genzyme.
• Supported by ViaCord revenues, ViaCell embarked on various R&D projects and acquired some other biotech companies.
• For example, in Nov 2003 ViaCell acquired the German company Kourion Therapeutics, which claimed to have isolated multi-potent stem cells, which they call "Unrestricted Somatic Stem Cells", from cord blood.  An ironic twist of the Kourion purchase is that Dr. Peter Wernet, the founder of Kourion, is also a co-founder of Netcord, an international consortium of public cord blood banks, and a vocal opponent of private banking.
  
• In Dec 2003 Amgen invested $20 million in ViaCell.
• In Sept 2004 ViaCell obtained exclusive rights to a patent for cryopreservation of human oocytes (unfertilized eggs) developed by Galileo Research Laboratories.  The resulting product is called ViaCyte(SM) and will enter clinical trial in 2006.
• On Friday, 21 Jan 2005, ViaCell issued an IPO and went public on Nasdaq stock exchange as VIAC.
  
• In Feb 2006 ViaCell opened a new corporate headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., with laboratory space for research and development, as well as manufacturing of cell products for clinical trials.  ViaCell also has research and development operations in Singapore.
• In 2006 ViaCell also entered a research partnership with Centocor to evaluate, in preclinical studies, the cardiac applications of cord blood stem cells using the Cordis Corporation's NOGA XP delivery system.
• In Jan 2007 ViaCell launched an exclusive 3 year marketing agreement with the largest retailer of maternity clothes, Mothers Work, Inc.
  
• In Feb 2007, ViaCell closed their "CB001" pahse I clinical trial transplanting expanded cord blood.  The trial came under FDA scrutiny because 2 of 8 patients developed acute Graft-versus-Host Disease (aGVHD; both recovered); also ViaCell felt that the format of the trial was not an effective test of expansion methods.
  
• In Oct 2007, PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI) announced plans to acquire ViaCell for $300million.  The main attraction of the merger was the marriage of PerkinElmer's genetic screening business with ViaCord's cord blood banking business.  PerkinElmer subsequently sold many of the ViaCell R&D projects, such as ViaCyte(SM).
• ViaCord conducts research and clinical trials via partnerships with biotech companies, which in the past have included Genzyme, Amgen, and Johnson & Johnson.
• In April 2010, Perkin Elmer acquired Signature Genomic Laboratories for $90 million in cash.  This DNA-testing company will bolster Perkin Elmer's already strong position in molecular diagnostics, cancer diagnostics and genetic testing.

Current Research Partnerships (Aug 2009):

• The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center: Clinical Trial of a cord blood expansion technology called “Co-culture.”  Expansion technologies make it possible to create more treatment doses from a single cord blood collection.
• The University of Massachusetts Medical School: ViaCord and UMMS are collaborating on research using stem cells form cord blood to treat Type 1 Diabetes.  The Principle Investigator is Dale L. Greiner, Ph.D., of the Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center at UMMS.
• Pfizer: Pfizer is one of the world’s largest researched-based biomedical and pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer is studying the regeneration of diseased and damaged cells using ViaCord’s patented USSC cord blood stem cell.

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COMPANY: Cryo-Cell International
INTERNET: www.cryo-cell.com
PHONE: 800-STOR-CELL
OFFICE: Oldsmar FL, near Tampa
STORAGE: Oldsmar FL, near Tampa
ACCREDITATION: AABB, MD, NJ, NY

COMMENT:
Cryo-Cell is one of the original private cord blood banks and has been a publicly traded company since 1991: Nasdaq OTCBB symbol CCEL.  Cryo-Cell has several partnerships with biotech companies researching stem cell applications.   

Experience:

• As of Dec 2009 Cryo-Cell claims over 200,000 clients worldwide.

Company History:

• Founder Dan Richard started Cryo-Cell in 1989 and participated in much of the company's early technology development.  
• Cryo-Cell has been publicly traded since 1991, much longer than any other company in the cord blood industry.  Their Nasdaq OTCBB symbol is CCEL and their financial reports can be found via the SEC web site Edgar.
  
• Cryo-Cell set up their original cord blood laboratory in 1992 in the Tampa suburb of Clearwater.
• Founder Dan Richard served as Chairman and CEO of Cryo-cell International, Inc., until he retired in 2003 with a severance package giving him a $200,000 per year consulting fee for life. 
  
• In the late 1990's Cryo-Cell positioned itself as the industry leader in economical cord blood storage and their inventory grew rapidly.  For roughly the past decade, Cryo-Cell cord blood inventory has been the third largest in the United States.
  
• In the early 2000's, Cryo-Cell established numerous marketing affiliates in Europe which all used a laboratory in Belgium.  In 2003, the European affiliates legally separated and went on to become Cryo-Save, which as of 2009 has the largest inventory among the EU cord blood banks.
  
• On 6Dec2004, Cryo-Cell relocated its headquarters and lab from one Tampa suburb (Clearwater) to another (Oldsmar). The new facility is nearly 18,000 square-feet and meets FDA rules for good manufacturing and good tissue practices (cGTPs). Nearly 75,000 client specimens were moved under police escort.
• Prior to 25 April 2005, Cryo-Cell processed cord blood by "Ficoll-Hypaque" density centrifugation, and long term storage was in vials. 
  
• As of 25 April 2005, Cryo-Cell processes cord blood by Hespan sedimentation, and long term storage is in compartmented bags. All storage is in their Oldsmar lab, which is compliant with FDA cGTP standards.
• Between 2001 and 2009 Cryo-Cell split each client's storage between their own lab and the storage facility Safti-Cell in Sedona, Arizona.  Under a 20 year contract, Cryo-Cell was paying Safti-Cell about $330,000 per year.  In late 2009 Cryo-Cell paid extra to get out of the contract,  and consolidated all storage in their Oldsmar lab.
  
• Cryo-Cell has international affiliates in Mexico, Central and South America, and in India (under the name LifeCell International Private Limited).
  
• Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Cryo-Cell turned a profit in fiscal 2009 because of cuts to their expenses in marketing (18%), administration, and cost of sales (26%).  Cryo-Cell had showed losses for 2008 and 2007.
  
• Mercedes Walton has served as Cryo-Cell CEO since Oct 2000 and as Chair of the Board since June 2002.  The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that she is paid $353,100 per year.
  

Corporate Partnerships:

Saneron CCEL Therapeutics:
Cryo-Cell owns approximately 38% of Saneron,  a biotech company which is conducting research on spinal cord repair using donated cord blood stem cells combined with "Sertoli" cells.  The Sertoli cells come from mammalian testes, and have the ability to provide localized immunosuppression, thereby eliminating the need for immune-suppressing drugs (like steroids or chemotherapy) when infusing patients with cord blood cells that have incompatible tissue types.

Plureon Corporation:
Cryo-Cell formed an exclusive partnership with the biotech firm Plureon Corporation in Oct 2005 to market the collection of stem cells from the placenta.  This was announced at the time with a one hour film clip hosted by the Cryo-Cell website.  The collection technique was to cut a small piece of tissue from the placenta, which was then processed in the lab to yield a small vial of cells.  Cryo-Cell and Plureon parted ways in 2007, but Cryo-Cell is still listed as a partner on the Plureon website.

C'elle:
Cryo-Cell currently (Jan 2010) is strongly promoting the services of their subsidiary C'elle  (pronounced “C-L”).  C'elle was launched 1 Nov. 2007, based on the discovery that menstrual blood contains stem cells.  The marketing slogan of C'ell is, "every month holds a miracle".  C'elle provides a kit which enables women to collect menstrual blood with minimum bacterial contamination, and then send them to the Cryo-Cell laboratory for processing and cryogenic storage.  The Célle service is based on Cryo-Cell’s intellectual property, for which patent applications are pending, related to the procurement, processing, isolation and cryo-preservation of these unique menstrual stem
 
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COMPANY: Cord Blood Registry
INTERNET: www.cordblood.com
PHONE: 888-CORDBLOOD
OFFICE: San Bruno, CA
STORAGE: Tucson, AZ
ACCREDITATION: AABB, CA, MD, NJ, NY

COMMENT: CBR is one of the original family cord blood banks, has the world's largest cord blood inventory, and has the most experience with family transplants.

Experience:

• As of July 2009, CBR claims an inventory of 290,000 cord blood collections.
• As of July 2009, the CBR lab has released 123 cord blood units for medical treatments.
  

Corporate History:

Cord Blood Registry (CBR) holds the first privately banked cord blood collection.  Founder David Harris, PhD, stored the cord blood from his son Alexandre in 1992.  The bank was originally housed in a lab at the University of Arizona, where Harris is a professor of immunology.  The business founder of CBR is CEO Tom Moore.  In Dec 2005 CBR opened a new lab in a location near the Tucson airport with 61,140 sq ft space.  Since Feb. 2007, and even now in Dec. 2009, CBR is the only one of the large private banks which continues to be privately owned. 

CBR originally adopted "Ficoll-Hypaque" (F-H) processing for family storage.  This method of processing was and is routinely used in stem cell research labs because it results in a small final volume.  The blood goes through two cycles of hard centrifuge spinning to separate MonoNuclear Cells almost completely.  The final sample is small enough to fit in two or three 5cc vials.  Transplant doctors have successfully used dozens of CBR units processed by the Ficoll-Hypaque method. 

In 2006 CBR moved to automate their processing in anticipation of  future growth.   In Dec 2006 CBR started using the AutoXpress Process (AXP) automated processing system which yields 99.3% recovery of MNC.   The AXP platform stores blood in compartmented bags with integrally attached testing segments.  However, the AXP does not use ordinary blood bags, it uses special bags which are blow-molded and individually pressure tested.  CBR is the main customer for Thermogenesis bags.  During 2007, CBR ran processing lines with both F-H and AXP methods, in order to have the security of redundancy.  In 2008, CBR completed the transition to AXP processing.

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COMPANY: LifebankUSA (a Celgene company)
INTERNET: www.lifebankusa.com  
PHONE: 877-LIFEBANK
OFFICE: Cedar Knolls, NJ
STORAGE: Cedar Knolls, NJ
ACCREDITATION: AABB, MD, NJ, NY

COMMENT: LifebankUSA is the first and still only company in the USA to bank blood from the placenta in addition to cord blood. 
 
Experience:

Company History:

LifebankUSA was founded in 1998 by Robert Hariri, MD, PhD and neurosurgeon.  It was during a rotation in obstetrics when Dr. Hariri first became intrigued by the placenta, an organ that connects the developing fetus to its mother, providing nutrients and life-sustaining oxygen.  But it wasn’t until he himself was about to become a father that he recognized the true potential of the placenta.  Dr. Hariri left his medical practice and dedicated himself to building LifebankUSA – a company that offers placental stem cell banking in addition to traditional cord blood banking.  To date, LifebankUSA is the only company capable of collecting and storing both types of cells.

In Nov 2002, LifebankUSA was acquired by Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) , a globally integrated biopharmaceutical company that recognized the potential of LifebankUSA’s placental and cord blood stem cell platform. LifebankUSA’s parent company, Celgene, invests heavily in research and development in order to set the standard for the therapeutic use of stem cells.  LifebankUSA continues to operate at the NJ laboratory.     

On April 24, 2006, LifebankUSA became the first cord blood bank in the world to offer optional private banking of placental blood, for an additional cost.  LifebankUSA data shows that clients who choose to bank the placenta in addition to cord blood, on average, have 39% more CD34+ cells.  In addition, Placenta-Cord banking also yields more mesenchymal-like stem cells, including CD105+200+ cells.  This proprietary research has not been published.  Nonetheless it is supported by independent research: Transplant studies show that a higher dose of CD34+ cells ensures a better transplant outcome.  In addition, mesenchymal-like stem cells, including a specific type of cell called CD105+200+ cells, are being researched for their potential in regenerative medicine.   In the laboratory, CD105+200+ cells have been shown to possess osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic differentiation capabilities. 

LifebankUSA harvests blood from the placenta in their NJ laboratory.  When the baby is born, the entire placenta is placed in a container and shipped to the lab.  Placental blood processing is performed by a trained technician who cleans the placenta in a biological safety cabinet and then uses a pump to remove the stem-cell rich blood from the placenta in a process called perfusion.   Once the blood has been extracted from the placenta, the stem cells in the placental blood can be separated with the same laboratory procedure as cord blood. The cord blood and placental blood are each placed into separate storage bags that are compartmentalized into 2 segments.  The compartmentalized bags allow the transplant physician to use a portion of the stem cells or to use it all as needed.
 
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COMPANY: Cord Blood America (CorCell)
INTERNET: www.cordblood-america.com
PHONE: 888-882-2673 (CORD)
OFFICE: Las Vegas, NV
STORAGE: Las Vegas, NV
ACCREDITATION: Brand new lab opened 22 Jan 2010, awaiting accreditation

COMMENT: Cord Blood America is a publicly held (Nasdaq OTCBB:CBAI) holding company which offers cord blood banking through CorCell.

Experience:

Company History:

The story of Cord Blood America begins with the cord blood bank Cord Partners, founded in 2003.  Cord Partners was a marketing company with offices in Los Angeles that used the cord blood laboratory of Community Blood Services in NJ.  On 28 Jan 2005, Cord Partners went public as part of the holding company "Cord Blood America" (Nasdaq OTCBB:CBAI).

On 28 Jan 2006, Cord Blood America purchased the assets of the cord blood bank Cryobank for Oncologic and Reproductive Donors (CORD) in Middletown, NY.  The 750 cord blood collections in storage and three dewars belonging to CORD were moved to the laboratory at Community Blood Services in NJ.

On 13 Oct 2006, Cord Blood America acquired CorCell, a Philadelphia company which had been marketing family cord blood storage since 1996.  In July 2004, CorCell had merged with the German cord blood bank VITA 34, under a German holding company VITA 34 International AG.  The acquisition by Cord Blood America severed the relationship between CorCell and VITA 34.  Cord Blood America also purchased the CorCell inventory of approximately 10,000 cord blood collections held at the lab of Community Blood Services.   However, CorCell retained its operating name.  CorCell has many partnerships with health insurance companies.

On 21 Aug 2007, Cord Blood America acquired CureSource, a company headquartered in Charlestown, South Carolina which markets family cord blood storage and had recently switched its lab from the Medical University of South Carolina to Community Blood Services in NJ.

In Oct 2007, Cord Blood America switched laboratory contracts from Community Blood Services in NJ to the nearby Progenitor Cell Therapy LLC in NJ.  There was a delay in moving inventory until storage fees owed to Community Blood Services were paid up. 

In 2009, Cord Blood America moved its offices, from Los Angeles CA, to Las Vegas NV, and began construction of its own laboratory in Las Vegas.  The director of laboratory construction was Dr. Geoffrey John O'Neill, who in the past was Laboratory and Scientific/Medical Director for the family cord blood bank Cryo-Cell International Inc. in Florida.  The medical director is Dr. Shamoon Ahmad, an oncologist who trained with the bone marrow transplant program at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York and as of Feb. 2010 serves on the Board of the Nevada Oncology Society. 

The new lab opened on Jan 22, 2010 and CorCell now processes and stores all collections at this site.  The inventory from NJ shipped to NV in spring 2010.  The strategic vision of Cord Blood America is to become a "cellular pharmacy" for various types of cellular therapy.  In the spring of 2010, CBAI went on a campaign of signing agreements with companies around the world and building their core staff.  In June 2010 Lydia Coleman was hired as laboratory director; she was previously the Lab Services Manager at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

As of 24 March 2010, CBAI acquired a 51% stake in Stellacure GmbH, a company in Hamburg, Germany, that markets private cord blood banking and uses the laboratory of the German Red Cross (DRK).  In 2008, Stellacure stored approximately 300 cord blood collections.  Stellacure also markets in Spain via Vidapluscm and in Italy via Vitafutura.  On 24 June 2010, CBAI named Thomas Kolzau, PhD, the new director for Stellacure.  He previously was a consultant specializing in bio/pharma industries and the application of patent-based technologies.

On 1 April 2010, CBAI announced a licensing agreement in mainland China to help AXM Pharma (OTC: AXMP) develop cord blood processing and storage facilities.  CBAI will receive a 10% equity stake in AXM Pharma's stem cell subsidiary and an 8.5% royalty for all cord blood sales.  As part of the license, Matthew L. Schissler, Cord Blood America co-founder and CEO, has been appointed to the board of AXM Pharma.  The companies plan to begin processing stem cell samples by January 1, 2011, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals.

On 19 April 2010, CBAI announced a Letter of Intent to acquire a controlling interest in BioCells, a family cord blood bank in Argentina, with 12 locations throughout that country, plus affiliates in other Latin American countries.  Earlier, on 9 Feb. 2010 BioCells signed an agreement to process and store cord blood in the lab of Cord Blood America in Las Vegas.  The BioCells website states that Dr. Geoffrey John O'Neill is the Scientific Advisor and Lab Director of BioCells.  Argentina is currently (June 2010) contemplating legislation to outlaw family cord blood banking.

In April 2010, CBAI appointed Natalie Curry, cord blood transplant survivor, as their spokesperson, and in May 2010 Natalie's mother, Lea Ann Stiller, was appointed Dir. of Business Development.

On June 14, 2010 CBAI launched a radical "Afford-A-Cord" program, which reduces the initial cost of storing umbilical cord blood stem cells from $2075 to $495 plus medical courier service.  The offered price is less than the cost to properly process and freeze cord blood, but has the advantage of locking in future storage payments from clients who sign up during the program.  Moreover, the payment plan for this program is $29/month, so parents are paying $348/yr for storage rather than the $125/yr charged at most other banks.

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COMPANY: FamilyCord (a California Cryobank Comapny)
INTERNET: www.familycord.com
PHONE: 800-490-CORD (2673)
OFFICE: Los Angeles, CA
STORAGE: Los Angeles, CA
ACCREDITATION: AABB, CA, NY

COMMENT: Family Cord Blood Services is a subsidiary of  California Cryobank,  one of the nation's leading sperm banks and a provider of various cryogenic services for 30 years. 

Experience:

• As of August 2009, FamilyCord claims an inventory of 15,000 cord blood collections.
• As of August 2009, the FamilyCord stem cell laboratory has processed 80 transplants of stem cells harvested from peripheral blood, and 4 transplants of cord blood

Company History:

The parent company of Family Cord Blood Services, California Cryobank Sperm Bank, was founded in 1977 by two physicians, Dr. Cappy Rothman and Dr. Charles Sims.  Since then, California Cryobank has grown to serve all 50 US states and more than 30 countries worldwide.  With the advent of technology to process stem cells for freezing, and the development of medical therapies based on cord blood stem cells, in 1997 California Cryobank  opened their Stem Cell Services division and became the first private cord blood bank in California. Their stem cell laboratory has always been completely separate from the sperm bank.  Their medical advisory board includes hematologist Dr. Michael Lill and director of laboratory operations Eddie Jacildo, DLM,MT,CLS.  The stem cell laboratory of FamilyCord has provided several transplants of stem cells harvested from the donor's blood by apheresis, and two cord blood transplants. 

In 2005, the cord blood bank changed its name and location.  The old name was California Cryobank Cord Blood Bank and the new one was Family Cord Blood Services.  The lab moved less than a mile from Santa Monica to a larger, state-of-the-art facility in Los Angeles.  In 2009, the name was shortened to "FamilyCord" and the logo redesigned.  The company continues to be privately held and operated by the same staff who have presided over its growth.

FamilyCord relies uponlicensed clinical laboratory technologists to manually process cored blood.   The first steps is sedimentation, during which red cells are depleted with the chemical hespan, followed by centrifugation.  The final sample of separated MonoNuclear Cells has a volume of 25ml and is stored in a dual compartment bag with 20ml and 5ml portions.  Three testing segments are attached to the storage bag.  FamilyCord is one of only two family banks which provides a temperature-controlled shipping container.
 
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COMPANY: MAZE Cord Blood Laboratories
INTERNET: www.MAZEcordblood.com
PHONE: 914-683-0000
OFFICE: Westchester, NY
LAB: NY Blood Center
STORAGE: MAZE Labs, Purchase, NY.
ACCREDITATION: AABB, NJ, NY

COMMENT: MAZE cord blood laboratory is a subsidiary of MAZE Laboratories, an FDA-approved fertility lab specializing in male fertility testing.  The name MAZE combines the initials of the four sons of founding urologist Michael Werner, MD: Mathew, Adam, Zachary and Evan.
 
Company History:

MAZE Labs was developed to run semen analyses and blood tests for patients of Dr. Michael A. Werner.  Eventually, the specialized semen analysis protocol used by MAZE became a recommended alternative to general labs among practitioners working with women and infertility.  As the lab expanded, cryo-banking for Dr. Werner’s patients resulted in the expansion of the cryo-lab, presenting the opportunity to store umbilical cord stem cells in a cost-effective manner.

Dr. Werner serves at the Clinical Director of MAZE Cord Blood Labs.  The current director of MAZE cord blood operations is Rona Weinberg, PhD, and the Medical Director is Marvin A. Lessig, DO, FCAP.  The Chief Operating Officer of MAZE Labs is Bat Sheva Marcus, PhD; she also serves as Clinical Director of the Medical Center for Female Sexuality, which she founded in 2000 with Dr. Werner.

Since they began offering cord blood services in 2004, MAZE Laboratories has contracted services with the NY Blood Center (not the same lab that operates the National Cord Blood Program for the public). 

After processing, the frozen blood is transferred to long term storage at MAZE Labs.  MAZE positions itself as a low cost provider of cord blood services, with an up-front fee that includes free storage for 20 years.

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COMPANY: Community Blood Services
INTERNET: www.communitybloodservices.org
PHONE: 1-866-SAVCORD
OFFICE: Allendale, NJ
STORAGE: Community Blood Services, Allendale, NJ
ACCREDITATION: AABB, NJ, NY

COMMENT:
Community Blood Services (CBS) is the most multi-purpose institution in the cord blood industry:

• CBS is a regional blood center for northern New Jersey.
• CBS operates the "New Jersey Cord Blood Bank", which collects donations throughout NJ and parts of NY and DE.
  
• CBS participates in the NMDP national public registry and is funded by HRSA to collect cord blood donations.
• CBS is a contract laboratory for over a dozen companies marketing private cord blood banking.
• CBS also offers consumers direct contracts for family banking under the name "Elie Katz" cord blood bank.

Experience:
Over two hundred cord blood transplants.

Company History:

Community Blood Services is a non-profit organization.  They are a regional blood bank founded in 1953 and serving the transfusion medicine needs of northern New Jersey and New York.  Dennis Todd, PhD, has been the CEO of CBS since 2000, and in Jan 2010 he began a two year term on the Board of Directors of NMDP.

The cord blood program at Community Blood Services began in the mid 1990's.  The sponsor Elie Katz provided funding to collect public donations for transplant patients, and the public banking program was named after him.  Community Blood Services continues to actively bank public units and participates in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) registry. 

Since 2005, New Jersey is the first state to implement a statewide public cord blood bank.  Unlike other states which have paid lip service to the concept, NJ actually allocated money to process cord blood collections.  NJ Governor Codey created the program by Executive Order 18 Oct 2005.  Initially, the NJ program gave a two year grant of $350,000 to the stem cell processing laboratory at  Community Blood Services in Allendale, and also financially supported the Coriell Institute in Camden.  As of 26 May 2007, the program became known as the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank and was consolidated under Community Blood Services (press release).  Coriell transferred its cord blood collection and staff to the control of Community Blood Services.  Coriell continues to conduct stem cell research.

The New Jersey Cord Blood Bank (NJCBB) collects cord blood from participating hospitals throughout New Jersey, New York, and Delaware.  A current list is avilable at:
communitybloodservices.org/cb_participatinghospitals.php?hosp=public

These hospitals have on-site collection staff, which enables donors to sign up without pre-registration:  

• Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck, NJ
• St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, Paterson, NJ
• The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ

Donations from the state of Delaware are made possible through a partnership with the Brady Kohn Foundation.

Since 1 Aug 2007, Community Blood Services processes all cord blood collections with the automated Sepax system from the Swiss company Biosafe.  The processing components are the Sepax automated cell separation system and the Coolmix  automated mixing and cooling device.  Not only does the Sepax system use a functionally closed, single-use kit that is sterile, but also the system has a fail-safe protocol which stops processing and returns all blood to the original collection bag if the cell recovery is low.    Because the processing kit comes with anti-coagulant already included, it carries BLA licensure from the FDA.  In their validation of the Sepax system, Community Blood Services achieved 86% recovery of CD34+ marked stem cells.

Community Blood Services is the contract lab for a number of companies which market family banking of cord blood.  Community Blood Services handles all private cord blood units the same way, but each bank which stores at their lab has a separate freezer.  In 2008 they started offering family banking contracts directly to consumers.  Now that the public banking program is called the "New Jersey Cord Blood Bank" (NJCBB), their family cord blood banking services are named in memory of Elie Katz.

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COMPANY: LifeLine Cryogenics
INTERNET: www.lifelinecryogenics.com
PHONE: 1-866-967-CRYO
OFFICE: Stamford, CT
STORAGE: Stamford, CT
ACCREDITATION: AABB, CA, NY

COMMENT: LifeLine is a broad spectrum cryogenics company in business since 1991, offering storage of sperm, eggs, ovarian tissue, embryos, and cord blood.
 
Experience:

Company History:
LifeLine is the only cord blood lab in Connecticut.  Initially they focused on high quality service to local clients.  Their collection kits have always used the sterile Pall collection bag, and they have always provided courier service to ensure rapid delivery of the blood to the lab.  In addition to preserving cord blood stem cells, LifeLine also saves the separated plasma and red cells, at no extra charge.  LifeLine carries a "Quality Product Guarantee" of $10,000 payment to the client if their cord blood is transplanted and fails to engraft.  LifeLine has relationships with many medical practices that focus on infertility.  LifeLine was in the news Feb 2007 for accomplishing the first pregnancy from a frozen egg, in the state of Connecticut.

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COMPANY: Safetycord, Inc.
INTERNET: www.safetycord.com
PHONE: +1 305 432 2673
OFFICE: San Juan, Puerto Rico
STORAGE: Community Blood Services, Allendale, NJ
ACCREDITATION: AABB

Company History:
Safetycord operates primarily in Puerto Rico, which is a United States protectorate, hence they are listed as a USA bank. Safetycord is a marketing company which serves Spanish-speaking people, and they operate in partnership with the cord blood laboratory of Community Blood Services in NJ.  In addition to the standard services provided by family banks, Safetycord provides additional tests which would be required prior to transplant: high resolution HLA typing and CD34 counts are performed for all clients.

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INTERNET: www.CordBancUSA.com
PHONE: 1-888-273-7770
OFFICE + STORAGE: Monterey, CA
ACCREDITATION: California Biologics (comparable to AABB)

COMMENT:
CordBancUSA is a subsidiary of BioBancUSA.

Experience:

Company History:

BioBancUSA was founded in 2006 and launched operations in April 2007  offering a new type of service: white blood cell banking.  This is essentially banking your mature immune system.  BioBancUSA is the exclusive U.S. licensee of the patent for the collection, processing and cryopreservation technology of white blood cells. 

The Scientific Advisory Board of CordBancUSA is led by Dominique Charron, M.D., Ph.D..  Dr. Charron is a professor at the University of Paris, and Chair of the Department of Immunology and Histocompatibility at Hospital Saint Louis in Paris, the hospital where the first cord blood transplant was performed in 1988. His research interests include immunogenetics, transplantation biology and medicine.  Dr. Charron has over 300 publications to his credit, and has also served as chair of the International Histocompatibility Workshop and Conference.

BioBancUSA is running a clinical trial of immune system reconstitution in animals as a proof of their concept.  The US military is very interested in the outcome of this project.

CordBancUSA uses the same technology platform as BioBancUSA to separate the components of cord blood.  Their laboratory is completely set up with Thermogenesis equipment:  They rely upon the AutoXpress Process (AXP)  processing system which is automated, closed, and sterile.  Final cell storage is in the automated BioArchive freezer from Thermogenesis.

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INTERNET: www.cryo-intl.com  
PHONE: 800-869-8608 or 407-834-8333
OFFICE + STORAGE: Altamonte Springs, FL; near Orlando
ACCREDITATION: AABB, NJ, NY

COMMENT: Cryobanks International offers both public and private cord blood banking.  Cryobanks public bank has pioneered the national donation collection model, accepting donations mailed in from anywhere in the US.

Experience:

Company History:

The original name of this company was U.S. Cryobanks of Florida, founded by CEO Dwight Bruenholer.  As of 28 Nov 2005, Cryobanks International became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Biostem, Inc. (OTC BB: BTEM).   The company Biostem had only existed for 10 days prior to this merger, and had previously been known as National Parking Systems Inc. (OTC BB: NPGS).  On the effective date of the merger, the Board of Directors of Cryobanks took over the BioStem board and Cryobanks received net proceeds of $10.0 million.   Due to their restructuring as a publicly held company, Cryobanks is now files financial disclosures on the SEC website "Edgar". 

Cryobanks started as a family cord blood bank, but have become nationally famous as a public bank which accepts mail-in donations.  Cryobanks has actively lobbied in some states for legislation that would encourage parents to donate, and to have those parents informed of the option of donating to them.  Cryobanks became a participating member of the NMDP network of public cord blood banks as on 15 Dec. 2005.  Cryobanks also advertises that private customers may elect at any time to transfer their cord blood to the public banking program.  However, the NMDP will not allow transfered units to be used for transplants, so effectively those customers will allow their collection to be used or sold for research.

Cryobanks is actively pursuing technology licensing agreements in overseas markets.  Cryobanks estimates that they can assist the development of four to six foreign facilities each year, for which they will receive a large up-front cash fee plus a percentage of the gross revenues of each facility.

• Cryobanks has opened a facility in Athens, Greece, which is accredited by the AABB
  
• Cryobanks India is a joint venture with R.J. Corporation headed by Ravi Jaipuria.  Cryobanks will invest Rs.1 billion to build seven facilities in metro cities.  An advisor to the project is cardiologist Naresh Trehan.  The first facility will open in 2006 in Gurgaon near New Delhi, as reported in IndianMuslims.Info

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INTERNET: www.thegenesisbank.com
PHONE: 800-804-6703
OFFICE: General BioTechnology, Indianapolis, IN
STORAGE: General BioTechnology, Indianapolis, IN
ACCREDITATION:  AABB, MD, NJ, NY

COMMENT: Genesis Bank is a subsidiary of the biotech company General BioTechnology LLC, an Indianapolis company which since 1997 has specialized in cryogenic research and services. 
 
Experience:

• Genesis Bank is a behind-the-scenes contract lab for several cord blood marketing companies.
  
• Genesis Bank receives cord blood from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central America and Europe.
  

Company History:

Genesis Bank is a subsidiary of the biotech company General BioTechnology LLC in Indianapolis, IN. General BioTechnology LLC (GBT) was founded in 1997 by former Indiana University School of Medicine researchers. The company was initially based on novel technologies to give biological cells and tissues longer shelf life. The CEO of General BioTechnology, Erik Woods, Ph.D., is in the Dept of Microbiology and Immunology at Indiana University School of Medicine and has published research on cord blood preservation.

General BioTechnology LLC has the ability to contract their cryopreservation expertise for the storage of virtually any cell or tissue type.  Additionally, General BioTechnology has the capabilities of scale-up cell culture in class 10,000 clean rooms for expansion of cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

General BioTechnology LLC several divisions:

• Genesis Bank was founded in July 2004 and began processing cord blood in their laboratory in early 2005.
• Genome Resources is devoted to sperm banking. 
  
• Advanced Cryo Technology (no website) specializes in cell washing; in Aug 2009 they received an SBIR grant to develop their process of separating DMSO preservative from bone marrow prior to transplant. 
  
• VialCo, LLC (no website) manufactures  controlled rate freezers.
• Cell Seal is a patented cryovial that is the only completely closed device of its kind (plus it has a really cute mascot doll that children love).  It can be used for long term cryogenic storage of cellular therapy product(s).  It has a microbial barrier vent that allows aseptic and efficient retrieval.
  

General BioTechnology LLC has won contracts with other biotechnology companies as well as various universities to aid in development of cryopreservation and banking procedures for "fragile" unique cell and tissue types. Research sponsored by these programs has resulted in the development of several patents directly assigned to GBT and several others licensed back related to cryopreservation processing.

The Genesis cord blood bank serves as a contract laboratory for companies that market cord blood banking.  As of May 2010, they are processing for: the broker Alpha Cord; CryoLife of Mexico; Miracle Cord of Chicago, IL; Securacell of Canton, OH; and Southern Cord of Huntsville, AL.

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INTERNET: www.cordbloodbank.com  
PHONE: 888-700-CORD (2673)
OFFICE: Boston, MA
STORAGE: New England Cryogenic Center, Boston, MA
ACCREDITATION: AABB, NY

COMMENT: New England Cord Blood Bank is one of the original private cord blood banks, founded in 1995. New England Cryogenic Center, the largest cryogenic facility in North America, is the parent company of New England Cord Blood Bank.
 
Experience:
As of Jan 2010, NECBB claims an inventory of ??,000 cord blood collections.

Company History:

New England Cryogenic Center and its subsidiary New England Cord Blood Banks are an S-Corp owned by founder John Rizza.  They are financially stable based purely on income from storage fees from their inventory of sperm and cord blood.

In their original laboratory configuration, NECBB separated stem cells from cord blood with two cycles of centrifuge spinning, a technique called "Ficoll-Hypaque" density centrifugation (see the page on lab processing).  The final storage was in multiple cryovials, plus some smaller vials for pre-transplant testing.  Starting 1 Dec 2006, NECBB switched to storage in bags for easier compliance with revised AABB guidelines.

In the first half of the 2000 decade, NECBB pioneered international marketing of cord blood.  They established numerous marketing partnerships throughout Europe and Latin America with local affiliates who shipped cord blood to the NECBB lab in Boston for processing.  At one time they were the dominant bank offering private cord blood banking in South America.  By the mid-2000's these markets became more competitive, as local entrepreneurs set up laboratories in each country to process cord blood in their homeland.

At the end of 2007, NECBB lost their AABB accreditation when inspectors found that blood from overseas was not being tested and processed within the required time window.  Starting 1 Sept 2009, NECBB launched automated AXP processing of cord blood, and regained AABB accreditation in late 2009.

As of Jan 2009, NECBB owns two overseas cord blood laboratories in London, UK, and Mexico City, Mexico. 
Global affiliates are located:

• Europe: Turkey, Cyprus, Italy
• Mid-East: Jordan
• Latin America: Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Peru, Guatemala, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela

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INTERNET: www.progenitorcelltherapy.com
PHONE: 201-883-5300
OFFICE: Hackensack, NJ
STORAGE:  Laboratories in Allendale, NJ & Mountain View, CA
ACCREDITATION: AABB, FACT, CA, NJ, NY

Experience:

Company History:
Progenitor Cell Therapy LLC (PCT) was founded in 1997 by Andrew L. Pecora, MD, and Robert A. Preti, PhD.  Dr. Pecora performed the first adult transplant of expanded cord blood.  Dr. Preti was the Scientific and Laboratory Director of Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), located in Hackensack, New Jersey.  Progenitor Cell Therapy acquired the HUMC lab for HPCT processing in March 1999 and upgraded it to a cGMP compliant facility which is experienced in all forms of stem cell engineering. 

By the end of 2009, PCT had become a leading provider of contract laboratory services in the field of cellular therapy.  They provide services such as contract manufacturing, consulting, product & process development, storage plus distribution and transport, and GTP services.  Their web site hosts case studies of their services. 

One client of Progenitor Cell Therapy is NeoStem Inc. (NYSE Amex: NBS), a leading provider of adult stem cell storage.  In April 2009, PCT & NeoStem announced a strategic alliance.  The press release stated that Dr. Andrew Pecora would join the Advisory Board of NeoStem, but he is not shown on their website as of Jan 2010.  The CEO of NeoStem is Robin L. Smith, MD, MBA.  NeoStem is also the parent company of Ceres Living.

In Jan. 2010, Progenitor Cell Therapy announced the opening of a 30,000 square foot upgraded lab at their headquarters in Allendale NJ.  The building will host multiple fully independent clean rooms.  Progenitor Cell Therapy is also upgrading their west coast lab in Mountain View CA.

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INTERNET: www.StemCyteFamily.com  
PHONE: 866-389-4659
OFFICE: StemCyte, Covina, CA
STORAGE: StemCyte, Covina, CA
ACCREDITATION: AABB, FACT/Netcord,  CA, MD, NJ, NY

COMMENT: StemCyte is a global for-profit company.  Stemcyte started as a public cord blood bank, they participate in the NMDP cord blood registry, and they have been funded by HRSA to expand the National Cord Blood Inventory.  The StemCyte family division offers private cord blood banking at the same laboratory.

Experience:

• StemCyte has provided more than 800 public cord blood units for transplant from Nov. 2001 through Aug 2008.
• StemCyte has released 4 family cord blood collections for transplant, 2 in the USA and 2 in Taiwan.
  

Company History:

StemCyte was founded in the year 1997 with $20 million in venture capital; StemCyte started offering family banking in 2004.  In summer 2005, a press release from StemCyte claimed that an additional $13.7 million had been raised for operations in the United States and Taiwan.  In addition to participating in the USA National Cord Blood Inventory (via NMDP), StemCyte also operates the national public cord blood bank in Taiwan.  In 2007, Stemcyte was ranked the number one biotechnology company in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 for Los Angeles, a ranking compiled by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.  Rankings are based on the percentage revenue growth over five years from 2002-2006, a period during which StemCycte's revenues increased 1888%.

Clinical Trials:

• Thalassemia  – StemCyte has been collaborating on a multi-center study of cord blood transplantation as a treatment for Thalassemia Major in Taiwan.  Dr. Robert Chow, founder and vice chairman of StemCyte, presented results from this study on behalf of Dr. Jaing at the Dec. 2006 ASH meeting, and the abstract is published in the journal Blood.

• Spinal Cord Injury - StemCyte is conducting a clinical trial in Taiwan which hopes to accrue 60 patients to study the use of cord blood to repair Spinal Cord Injury.  This trial is in collaboration with Dr. Wise Young of the Rutgers University W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience.
  

• Reduction of Incidences of Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease (cGvHD) - Plasma-depleted cord blood can be effectively transplanted into patients without first undergoing post-thaw washing, and was found to reduce the incidence of extensive cGvHD, according to research presented by Robert Chow, M.D.

• Treatment of Non-Malignant Disorders with Plasma Depleted Cord Blood -In what was named one of the six Pediatric Best Abstracts, 120 children received treatment for non-malignant disorders through transplants of StemCyte cord blood products that maximize cell dose by using plasma-depletion and eliminating post-thaw wash. The study, presented by Dr. Rosenthal, M.D., Director of Pediatric Transplantation at the City of Hope National Medical Center, reported overall survival of 88±4% and disease-free survival 84±5%.

• Plasma-Depleted Cord Blood Effective in Treating Adult Malignancies - According to an abstract submitted by Auayporn Nademanee, M.D., of City of Hope National Medical Center, single and double cord blood transplants with StemCyte products can be safely and effectively performed on adult patients with various forms of leukemia.  Adults who received double cord blood transplants with plasma depleted products did not demonstrate higher rate of acute or chronic GvHD than those who received single cord blood transplants.

• Comparison of StemCyte’s Plasma Depleted versus Standard Red Cell Reduced Cord Blood - To compare the two processig methods, researchers matched 92 pairs of patients on the basis of disease type, disease status, age, weight, and tissue type matching.  Dr. Graham showed that patients transplanted with plasma-depleted cord blood received higher cell dose, had lower transplant-related mortality, superior engraftment and overall survival.

• Stem Cell Transplantation for Treatment and Immune Reconstitution of HIV patients - This is a collaboration in progress between StemCyte, UCLA Medical Center, and City of Hope.  The goal is to identify cord blood units which possess known a gene mutation that protects against HIV, and conduct a clinical trial to see if transplants with those cord blood units can benefit HIV patients.  StemCyte has a patent pending on this technology.
  

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