The Chennai-based LifeCell International, a pioneer in stem cell banking services providing and research, technology and therapy, has cut down the pricing across the entire range of BabyCord and BabyCord Duo services, in order to make stem cell banking affordable for Indian population.
The prices for stem cell banking has been revised across the levels almost up to 25 per cent. As per the new strategy, annual storage cost for cord blood stem cell banking has been slashed from Rs 79, 000 to Rs 59,900. Couples can also choose to pay an initial fee of Rs 36,000 and store their baby's cord blood cells at an annual storage fee of Rs 2000 for 20 years, announced the company.
The move is aimed to promote the noble concept among general public in the form of bio insurance against life threatening diseases. Besides, there is a BabyCord Duo plan, where the Umbilical cord tissue is also stored as it is without any processing along with cord blood stem cells. The Baby Cord Duo plan is available for an initial payment of Rs 42,000 with an annual storage fee of Rs 2500.
Mayur Abhaya, president and executive director, LifeCell International, said, "Rising cost has become a national concern with the middle and lower income groups being affected the most. This is also at times a hindrance for couples while they opt to secure their child's future. To break away from this trend and popularize the concept among a larger set of audience, we decided to revise our cost as per our introductory pricing plan. Our customers can save upto 25 per cent on all our services. For instance, the one-time fee of our Babycord service is reduced to Rs 59,900 from Rs 79,000, which would translate into a saving of Rs 19,000 for our customers."
The company has also launched two new value added services - BabyCord Duo 1m and 50m for its cord tissue customers, pan India. Under this service, LifeCell will process the umbilical cord tissue to harness the mesenchymal stem cells and then multiply it to one million or 50 million cells respectively. These cells will then be cryo-preserved and saved ready for future therapeutic use. These services are available for an initial payment of Rs 48, 000 and Rs 72,000 with an annual storage fee of Rs 3000 and Rs 5000 each. In case of onetime payment these service are available for Rs 79, 900 or Rs 1,19, 900, respectively.
LifeCell will also offer various EMI options to make cord blood and tissue stem cell banking easily accessible to everyone. The company has also set up its second collection center at Janak Residency, Kumara Krupa Road in Bangalore, added the company officials.