CordLife Sciences India Pvt Ltd. Has embarked upon a major expansion programme with a projected investment plan of Rs.31 crore. The company hopes to enter 35 Tier II cities by the year end.
The Kolkata-based company, part of the global leader in cord blood banking CordLife Group, has teamed up with Global Cord Registry, a Singapore based independent regulatory body that enforces patents and authenticates the processing origin and quality of stem cells. Now the company has invested Rs.22 crore in a new facility known as Explant Differentiation & Culture. It will now offer the novel and patented Explant technique which helps to isolate, differentiate and expand two cell lines namely Embryonic pluripotent Stem cells (EpScs) and Mesenchymal (MSC) from the umbilical cord lining. Explant not only will give the proof for tissue growth from stem cells but would also help to increase the storage capacity from the current 250 samples to 600. The geographical expansion will also help augment the head count from the current 200 to 350, Meghnath Roy Chowdhury, managing director, CordLife India told Pharmabiz.
“With stem cell therapy gaining ground and with the government of India working to announce its guidelines in banking and therapy we are chalking out the growth path as it will give a major fillip to cord blood banking sector. Although the big issue is creating an awareness among the public and the medical fraternity, we have managed to tap the customer base of 150 for Explant service alone This shows the growing interest among the public to plan for treatment options in the event of any eventuality”, he added.
Umbilical cord blood produces MSC and EPSC. Now patients can be assured that the EPSC can be differentiated into liver cells(hepatocyctes), insulin producing cells or islets and skin surface cells (keratinocyctes used to either repair or replace cells/structure after a tumour removal or a disease. MSCs are used to differentiate cells like fibroblasts (deep skin layer) bone cell or osteoblasts, cartilage cells (chondrocytes), nerve cells (neurons) and fat cells adipocytes) used for tumour removal or trauma, burns and chronic ulcers, he said.
Currently CordLife is present Kolkata (lab and banking centre), New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai but services across India.
The cord blood bank market is estimated at Rs.200 crore and with only a handful of players including Lifecell, Relicord, a Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) initiative, CryoSave, International Stemcell Services Limited, to name a few .
In order to be a key differentiator in the space, CordLife also provides ‘MediConcierge’ services where its customers needing a transplant anywhere in the world, the stem cells will be transported free of cost. It will also help the clinicians to find the match for cord blood cells too. In addition, it also offers three EMI schemes :Bio-Cord,Epi-Cord and Explant for customers to opt for an affordable monthly payment to store the cells. It has tied up with Jet Airways to transport samples without being x-rayed, said Chowdhury.
CordLife Group is a global market leader banks in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore. It is looking to increase its presence not just in India but internationally too.