News

Jan 2024   FDA rules allow for a blood donor to receive a payment in the form of a gift card, with no limit on the type of card or the amount. This makes it possible for expectant moms to receive large gifts in exchange for cord blood donations. So long as the payment is in the form of a gift card, these donations are still labelled "volunteer donor" and can be used to treat patients.

Dec 2023   A stem cell transplant from a sibling remains the best cure for Sickle Cell Disease, in terms of ease of access, cost of the procedure, and proven recovery. Eli's parents are lucky to live in a country where they have access to cord blood banking. Moreover, they were eligible for a program that stores a newborn's cord blood for free when an older sibling has a disease requiring transplantation.

Dec 2023   The need for placenta donations currently exceeds the supply. The amniotic membrane of the placenta can save patients with cornea damage from going blind. Wound dressings made from placenta  can heal chronic wounds and prevent lower limb amputations.

Nov 2023   China holds about half a million cord blood donations in public banks. For over a decade, the world's largest public bank has been the Tianjin bank in China. Several cord blood banks in China have reported 500 to 1000 cord blood therapies in a single year year. If China is included, the cumulative number of cord blood therapies worldwide is now 85,000.

Nov 2023   This is an early report on a paper in preparation which performs Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis (IPDMA) with 11 studies of Cord Blood for Cerebral Palsy from around the world. A poster about the analysis reported that at 6 months post therapy the patients treated with cord blood had significantly better GMFM-66 scores than the controls (p=0.027). The data also clearly showed that higher cell doses produced bigger response (p=0.005).

Oct 2023   Researchers have now demonstrated that cord blood is still viable after nearly three decades in cryogenic storage.

Oct 2023   A young patient "Xiao An" in China became sick with Aplastic Anemia. Luckily, the parents had stored the cord blood at birth. After 19 years in cryo-storage, the cord blood was thawed and returned to Xiao An. The patient is now in good health, and a new record for long-term self-use of cord blood has been established.

Oct 2023   When young blood is given to old mice it temporarily reverses some symptoms of aging. Researchers are now exploring anti-aging treatments in humans where plasma from young donors is given to older people. The youngest human source of plasma is cord blood. The plasma in cord blood is normally discarded during the cord blood banking process. This is a new opportunity for cord blood banks, but one which must be approached carefully.

Oct 2023   Hemafund cord blood bank of Kyiv, Ukraine, has now opened Hemafund Europe, based in Germany.

Sep 2023   During the first two years of the Coronavirus pandemic, 30 countries registered clinical trials of advanced cell therapy to treat COVID-19. At least 76% of these trials used allogeneic cells. Almost all cells were sourced from a biobank near the hospital treating the COVID-19 patients. Therefore, local biobanks have high value during a pandemic.