November 15th is the World Cord Blood Day. As of 2023, there are about 200 stem cell storage banks and 10 million cord blood samples in the world. About 600 thousand samples are stored annually.
There are 12 cord blood banks in Russia, 2 of which have donor status.
The largest bank in the Russian Federation is Gemabank (IMCB, MOEX: GEMA), part of the Artgen Biotech group. It occupies about 40% of the Russian market. Gemabank has a regional network of representatives in more than 150 cities. To date, the bank stores 34,500 cord blood samples. 55 samples were issued for treatment and transplantation. The company is also developing gene therapy drugs to treat blood and immune system diseases.
An important indicator of the cord blood preservation industry is the demand (number of transplantations performed) for samples from personal banks. The indicator shows the readiness of the healthcare system to use this biomaterial.
According to statistics, the demand for cord blood samples from private banks in Europe and the USA in recent years averages from 1/3000 to 1/1750. In Gemabank - 1/600.
Cord blood remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after the baby is born and is usually disposed of after birth. However, this biomaterial may be useful for the treatment of critical diseases if it is processed in a special way and stored in liquid nitrogen until needed.
Cord blood is rich in hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells.
Stem cells have been used for more than 30 years to treat more than 100 serious diseases, including hereditary, oncohematological and immune system diseases.
Cells isolated from cord blood are younger and more active compared to other sources (bone marrow and peripheral blood after stimulation), and preserving cells at birth is a 100% safe way to obtain this valuable biomaterial.