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Apollo joins hands with StemCyte to set up umbilical cord blood centre

— Photo: R. Ragu

FUTURE BECKONS: Wise Young, neuroscientist at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, delivering a lecture in Chennai on Saturday.

CHENNAI: If stem cell therapy is the treatment of the future, then countries around the world have a responsibility to ensure there are enough cells available to treat people when the scientific breakthrough comes, Wise Young, world renowned neuroscientist and spinal cord injury researcher at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, told his audience in the city on Wednesday.

Apollo Hospitals and Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals have joined hands with StemCyte Inc, United States, to set up an umbilical cord blood centre and research institute in the country. StemCyte Therapeutics India will build an inventory of 25,000 umbilical cord blood units and investigate the use of these cells for non-haematological diseases such as diabetes, stroke and liver disease.

“Everywhere in the world people are recognising that cord blood transplants are good to save lives and they can be used very quickly for a lot of indications - blood cancers, autoimmune diseases and genetic disorders like thalassaemia,” Kenneth J Gaicin Chairman, president and CEO of StemCyte Inc, told The Hindu.

Because the body’s immune system can reject implanted cells it is important that they are as close a match as possible. The possibility he said, is enhanced if it comes from the same racial or ethnic profile. “It’s not easy to find a match for an Indian person today,” he said. So creating umbilical cord blood bank in India enables the entire Indian diaspora to benefit from access to the blood or any therapies derived from examination.

StemCyte Inc was commissioned by the Government of the United States to build a national cord blood inventory. It holds inventories of Hispanic, African American and Caucasian blood. It has a unit in China for umbilical cord blood collection, research and clinical trials.

It ships stem cell products to 140 leading hospitals in 32 countries. Its database is open for doctors anywhere to access.

StemCyte will offer their intellectual property and know-how for the venture. It will also offer tips on collecting the cells and meeting international standards for certification and safety.

“They will run the enterprise using their standard operating procedures and techniques. What Apollo, as the largest private health care provider in India, will provide is access. It will allow faster stem cell collection,” David S Nevill, senior president, Business Development, Apollo, told The Hindu.

But, he clarified, “We are not only going to collect [cord] blood from babies born in Apollo Hospitals.” In the longer term the venture is looking to work with State governments, he said, but that would require education and political will.

The joint venture, which expects to have its India operation running by next year, comes amid growing interest by international stem cell researchers in the strength of Indian science, the numbers and diversity of the gene pool in India, and the ease with which clinical trials can be conducted in the country.

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