Globe's 2 Largest Cord Blood Banks Partner

Todd Van Horn, MBA,
Vice President,
Business Development
at Cord Blood Registry

Cord Blood Registry® (CBR®), the world's largest newborn stem cell company, and China Cord Blood Corporation (CCBC), the first and largest cord blood bank in the world's most populous country, have entered into a strategic partnership agreement for research collaboration.

Recognizing the critical need to accelerate biomedical innovation and patient access to important technologies, the two prominent cord blood banks will share data on cord blood collection and preservation. The organizations will also work together to develop a family disease registry for CCBC's clients in China and jointly support newborn stem cell-related clinical trials in the United States and China.

This important collaborative effort achieves a milestone in bringing the two largest cord blood banks in the world into close concert for the benefit of their client families, future patients and the stem cell clinical research community.

Additionally, the CBR-CCBC partnership presents an opportunity to aid families impacted by certain diseases across an international and racially diverse population. In the aggregate, CBR and CCBC have collected and stored samples from an estimated 1 million newborn children worldwide, accounting for nearly one quarter^* of all cord blood units preserved globally.

Kam Yuen, Chairman of CCBC commented, "This memorandum brings together two cord blood banks that collectively serve approximately 1 million clients and represents the most significant joint effort to date in the global cord blood banking industry. Through this collaboration, we hope to create new possibilities to service clients and patients, and provide greater support to the stem cell clinical research communities in both China and the United States."

"CBR and CCBC are both committed to bringing forward clinical applications of newborn stem cells for a host of conditions that could benefit from regenerative medicine," said Geoffrey Crouse, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBR. "Through this collaboration, we will be able to share our expertise and resources and improve mutual access to crucial research in China and the United States. This first of its kind partnership is a significant step toward raising global awareness of the importance of cord blood stem cell research."

Todd Van Horn oversees all CBR business development activities, including strategic partnerships, and collaborations. Additionally, Mr. Van Horn is responsible for CBR's business intelligence team, supporting and guiding CBR's commercial strategy and tactics.

^*Reference: Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation's confidential survey finds that the world inventory of cord blood in family banks is over 4 million as of the end of 2014.