To build 5,000 plus public inventory of UCB units
StemCyte India Therapeutics, a unit of StemCyte USA plans to expand its operations in India by opening new collection centres across the country and build 5,000 plus public inventory of Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) units with focus on more transplants in next two to three years.
StemCyte India Therapeutics is a joint venture between StemCyte USA, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises and Cadila Pharmaceuticals. The company started its operations in India in 2010 and has stored 1000 plus public umbilical cord blood units till date. StemCyte has a wide network of collection centres spread across Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The storage and processing centre is based out of it’s headquarter in Ahmedabad.
Kenneth J Giacin, Chairman and Director of StemCyte USA, said, “The success of stem cell technology is not just in banking, but in its therapeutic application as well. StemCyte has released almost 2,000 cord blood units across 235 transplant centres worldwide, including 29 transplants in India. Operating a hybrid model of UCB stem cell banking, StemCyte worldwide has a public inventory of over 35,000 umbilical cord blood units.”
“Despite the increasing number of births, India lags behind world indicators with extremely low public cord blood units and lack of bone marrow donors. There is a need to spread awareness and its importance to increase adoption of stem cell banking. We are committed towards our Indian operations and aim to build 5,000 plus units of public inventory in India and also to open more collection centres across India,” added Giacin.
Deepak Chhabra, COO, StemCyte India Therapeutics, said “One of the most important aspects in cord blood transplantation is the number of viable stem cells at time of transfusion. Through our patented ‘Plasma Depletion Technology’ we can assure that more than 99.95 per cent of collected nucleated cells are restored during processing. This in turn results in higher probability of successful transplants.” He further added, “UCB transplant plays a major role in treatment of Thalassemia patients, however as on date, there are only 5000 public units in Indian public inventories collectively and these units are not sufficient to treat more than one lakh patients who suffer from Thalassemia and other blood disorders.”
Dr Wise Young, Global Medical Director, StemCyte USA, who has been doing extensive work on spinal cord injuries, stroke, diabetes, etc. using umbilical cord blood stem cells, said, “Research and clinical studies are increasing at an incredible pace and this will result in the treatment of some of the most devastating diseases. UCB can be used to treat more than 80 types of blood disorders which are approved by Indian Regulatory Board and US FDA. StemCyte USA has completed the phase II of their global clinical trial on spinal cord injury and moving forward, India will be one of the centres.”
StemCyte is also exploring the use of UCB Stem Cells in stroke, HIV, peripheral and optic nerve damage treatments.
EP News Bureau – Mumbai