LifeCell’s Community Stem Cell Bank hopes to provide 95% match for stem cells

INN/Chennai, @infodeaofficial

According to a study done in June 2015, the estimated probability of finding a match for an Indian patient from volunteer donors outside the family was a dismal 0.008%.    

In March 2017 LifeCell launched the community stem cell banking model, whereby families at the time of childbirth contribute their newborn’s umbilical cord blood stem cells to a common pool, thereby offering benefits to the entire community of families..

LifeCell community banking inventory has now surged to over 25,000 consented and qualified donor stem cell units. What does this mean for the customers and the country at large? The families that have banked their baby’s umbilical cord stem cells with LifeCell can now enjoy over >96% chance of finding a 4/6 HLA matching stem cell unit, and >72% for finding 5/6 HLA match. 

With each passing day, with more and more expectant couples signing up for community banking, this inventory keeps growing, thereby continually improving the chances of finding a better matching unit which helps improve transplant outcomes. Currently majority of the cord blood stem cell transplants are done with 4/6 HLA match. 

The biggest bonus for families opting for community banking model is that the benefits are not just for the baby, but for the extended family including parents and grandparents. Also there are no restrictions on the number of matching stem cell withdrawals and no additional cost to be paid as and when need arises.

Mayur Abhaya, MD, LifeCell said “The community model of banking resolves the country’s dearth of stem cell assets by making available large number of cord blood units for patient’s immediate use.This is the only stem cell banking model that can provide protection for the entire family against all the conditions treatable using stem cells.”