News

Jul 2024   Mason Shaffer received a cord blood transplant when he was still an infant for the rare metabolic condition Malignant Infantile Osteopetrosis. He is now living his best life as a teenager. Mason is an honors student in high school and he is very active in sports.

Jun 2024   The edge where the placenta attaches to the wall of the uterus, called the placenta decidua, contains maternal tissues. Recently, researchers in Sweden published a paper claiming that mesenchymal stromal cells from the decidua are the most effective cell therapy for graft versus host disease.  

Jun 2024   During 2023 the laboratories of cord blood banks around the world were hit with a double punch: Banks that were using Sepax were forced to change their processing method. Simultaneously, there is a shortage of the hetastarch reagent for manually depleting red cells from cord blood. As banks reconsider alternative methods of cord blood processing, the PrepaCyte®-CB reagent is now available in a semi-automated system.

May 2024   StemCyte's CEO explains why the company is ready for an IPO. In addition to operating a multi-national hybrid cord blood bank, StemCyte is also manufacturing immunotherapies from cord blood and is one of the industry's leaders in running clinical trials with cord blood.

May 2024   For generations, Indians have stored a baby's dried umbilical cord in an amulet. The new practice of cryopreserving living perinatal stem cells builds on these old customs. Marketing of family cord blood banking is very personalized in India, where sales representatives visit families in their homes.

Apr 2024   Exclusive: How a small group of patient advocates and biotech companies tricked the Utah legislature into passing a law which sets a precedent. Utah is now the first state to legalize therapy with stem cells from placenta tissue and cord blood.

Apr 2024   Parents are always told that there are no biomarkers for diagnosing Autism. But they are not told that over a thousand biomarkers have been studied. To satisfy the American Psychiatric Association, a proposed biomarker would have to consistently be over 80% accurate. One of the biggest challenges in identifying biomarkers is validating them against the existing behavioral scores for autism, which do not consistently meet the 80% standard.

Mar 2024   The purpose of the National Cord Blood Network is to promote the use of cord blood grafts and products to transplant doctors, and to thereby improve transplant access for patients from underserved populations. The audience of the National Cord Blood Network is the medical community at US transplant centers. The authority of the National Cord Blood Network comes from their participating hematologists and oncologists that provide guidance and training.

Mar 2024   Gabriel and Alex received their own Cord Blood as therapy for Autism. Neither boy has been "cured" of Autism, but both have had remarkable gains.

Feb 2024   Brazil has a big public health investment in a national network of 14 public cord blood banks. But the medical community in Brazil is not actively utilizing this resource or developing new therapies that employ donated cord blood.