Country's first private 'cord blood bank' LifeCell would have two banks one each in Malaysia and Dubai and 60 marketing and collection centres in Asian region, including India, in the next two years and would invest Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million) on the expansion plan.
"We currently have 12 collection centres in the country and plan to have a total of 60 centres in the Asian region by 2007 end. The expansion includes 10 centres each in Malaysia and Dubai," said LifeCell vice chairman and CEO S Abhaya Kumar while inaugurating a centre in Gurgaon on Friday.
Cord blood is the blood from the umbilical cord that is generally discarded after child birth. It is a rich source of stem cells that could be preserved and used to treat over 75 serious ailments, he said.
LifeCell, which has a tie-up with USA's Cryo-Cell International, plans to have one cord blood bank each in Malaysia and Dubai and would have marketing and collection centres in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh that would be manged from India, Vice President (Marketing) LifeCell Prasad Mangipudi said adding the company would have 24 centres in the country by this year end.
"These centres, spread across the country, facilitate collection of cord blood just after the child birth and reach it at the bank in Chennai," he said.
LifeCell plans to set up a in Chennai that would be dedicated for transplants.
"We are working on setting up a centre dedicated to stem cell transplants to the needy patients. It would require an investment of Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million)," Mangipudi said.
Asked for how long could the cord blood be preserved, medical director LifeCell N S Moorthy said: "Theorotically it could be preserved for hundreds of years. It has been preserved for 21 years now in the US where the technology was used first."
Stem cells: Bio-insurance for your child
Cord blood could be used to treat ailments such as diabetes, cancer, kidney disorders and cardiothoracic problems besides many other diseases, he said, adding: "trials for it to be used for the management of HIV and hepatitis are underway in the US."
LifeCell does not store cord blood of people infected with HIV, he said.
Moorthy said the cord blood could be used for a child and other family members provided it matches with them on certain parameters.
LifeCell plans to set up a 'Public Cord Blood Bank' where it would store cord blood and would sell it to those who need it.
The company currently charges about Rs 27,000 for harvesting and processing the cord blood and Rs 2,900 per year to stock it.
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