Family Bank: StemCell Institute

About

StemCell Institute Inc. is the largest private cord blood bank in Japan and has been a leader in the industry since 1999. We are storing cord blood for more than 60,000 children. Our service is focused on supporting families in need of medical treatments such as regenerative medicine and cell therapy with autologous cord blood cells.

Labs and Locations

StemCell Institute has their own laboratories in Tokyo and Yokohama, with headquarters offices in Tokyo. The original laboratory in Tokyo only processes cord blood. The newer laboratory established in Yokohama in 2020 has separate rooms for processing umbilical cord blood and for processing umbilical cord tissue. All tissue collections are processed in Yokohama-CPC and will not be shipped to Tokyo-CPC.

Tokyo-CPC: 5-22-10 Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 105-0004

Yokohama-CPC: 1-18-2 Hakusan, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 226-0006

Business Experience

StemCell Institute, Inc. was established in August 1999 as the first private cord blood bank in Japan, and one of the oldest in the world. Since then, we are the leading company in Japan with over 99% share of the market.

Collection Kit

• Supplies are provided for gravity collection into a blood bag.
• The anti-coagulant used is CPD.
• Collection kit is sterile allowing use during either natural birth or C-Section.

Transportation container

Flexible Packaging Bag (BioPouch) is used for transportation. The shipping container includes ice bars and insulators to keep the cord blood cooled.

Shipping Info

• Shipping is included in the base price within Japan.
• Shipping arrangements are made by the parents.
• Standard shipping within Japan is by courier: Yamato Un-yu, Sagawa Kyubin, etc.
• The courier is available on weekends and holidays.
• Employees of the bank may pick up the blood from selected hospitals.

Processing Method

Laboratory technicians separate the component of the blood holding stem cells with the reagent Hespan.

Components Stored

Final storage is the fraction of white blood cells and stem cells, plus five testing portions. Parents are provided with a certificate describing test results (cell counts).

Storage Method

Final storage is in cryobag. Storage container is encased in aluminum cassette. All units are stored in the vapor phase of cryogenic nitrogen.

Licensing & Accreditation

StemCell Institute laboratory is accredited by ISO 9001 and by AABB since 2019.

Clinical Experience

To date, 16 family cord blood units have been released for therapy. Of those, 1 was for a sibling and 15 were autologous therapy.

Insurance

The family will receive a full refund of the service fee if it should happen that stored cells are not qualified to be used for medical therapy as judged by the treating physician.

Community Service

• Free banking is given to families where an immediate relative has a diagnosis for which transplantation is standard therapy.
• Babies born sooner than 33 weeks gestation with low-birth weight may be eligible for free banking.
• Discounts to medical doctors and nurses.

Prices

Total initial cost with 10 years of storage: 275,000 JPY
Installment payment options available.
Clients can add cord tissue preservation for a net price of 440,000 JPY.

Additional Services

StemCell Institute also offers parents umbilical cord tissue preservation service as an additional option. StemCell Institute stores whole tissue without mincing it.