Lifecell foresees over 95% chance of providing matching stem cells. The families that have banked their baby’s umbilical cord stem cells with LifeCell can now enjoy match.
Every three minutes, one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia or lymphoma. Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. 70% of all patients who need a lifesaving transplant don’t have a fully matched donor in their family. 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%.
With a vision to solve this problem for families in India in March 2017 Life Cell 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..
As a matter of significant achievement, LifeCell is pleased to announce that its community banking inventory has now surged to over 25,000 consented and qualified donor stem cell units under the community stem cell banking.
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.
Speaking on the milestone, Mayur Abhaya, MD, LifeCell says “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. LifeCell will take earnest efforts to scale this up and forsees the day not too far from now when every patient will have a fully matched unit available”
About LifeCell:
LifeCell, established in 2004, is India’s leading provider of preventive healthcare services for mother & baby wellness and healthcare solutions such as stem cell banking and diagnostic services. With facilities at Chennai & Gurgaon and a network spanning over 200 cities in India and abroad, over 3,00,000 lakh parents have trusted LifeCell for its services. LifeCell’s umbilical cord stem cell banking, a community-based approach towards stem cell access, is a global first initiative that aims to provide families in India better future access to stem cells than even currently possible in advanced countries such as the US. As a comprehensive provider of preventive & diagnostic healthcare services, LifeCell presents a complete panel of pre & post-natal diagnostic tests including maternal infectious diseases test, prenatal screening and newborn screening. Through these services, LifeCell, aims to provide complete wellness for the mother & baby ensuring healthy pregnancy and healthy newborns.
For more info: Visit us at: www.lifecell.in
