Cord Blood Banking for Stem Cells

An Israeli start-up company has been formed to organize a large bank of umbilical cord blood, the source of hematopoietic stem cells, in order to accumulate an amount sufficient to make Israel a significant international source of stem cells. Umbilical cord blood transplantation is emerging as an alternative to bone marrow transplantation.

GenCord (Jerusalem, Israel) was jointly established by Hadassit, Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital's business development arm, and Agam Etgarim Group, a Tel Aviv medical technology development company.

The use of stem cells from umbilical cord blood is still in relative infancy. "Cord blood has been successfully transplanted in over 3000 related and unrelated patients worldwide,” said Sara Prutchi-Sagiv, stem cell specialist and head of marketing at GenCord. "The banking of cord blood enables almost immediate availability to patients when compatible blood is in storage. Additionally, because cells found in cord blood have not yet become histologically mature, they present a reduced risk for graft-versus-
host disease.”

GenCord's founders believe that a bank based on Israeli blood could be especially important because, in locations such as the United States and Europe, a disproportionate amount of cord blood donors are white Caucasians, limiting the likelihood of its compatibility for minority groups.

In addition to hematopoietic and immunological stem cells, cord blood is a rich source of progenitor stem cells, progenitors for a variety of tissues including bone, cartilage, tendon, fat and muscle, as well as marrow stromal cells. Progenitor cells can serve as a powerful tool for tissue regeneration, since they can be selectively induced to differentiate any of a variety of tissues including bone, cartilage, tendon and adipose tissue.

GenCord also intends to establish a private cord blood bank, which will store blood from newborns for their own use in case of future need. This represents a kind of insurance for parents that can provide therapy for their children against the 45 diseases currently treatable by cord blood transplantation, including several types of leukemias and solid tumors, genetic disorders, blood disorders, and immune deficiencies.




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