CBA Florida Inc. (fka CBAI)

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US company promoting use of umbilical cord blood for stem cell treatments


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By Nadia Arandjelovic

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An umbilical cord blood processing and storage facility may be opened on the Island by US company Cord Blood America.





Matt Schissler, the company's CEO, is meeting with Government, staff from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and some of the Island's main insurers today He will present a business plan to local officials and discuss why the facility could be feasible in Bermuda.

"One of the reasons is the simple manageable population and the diversity of the Island," said Mr. Schissler. "It is also close to the US (and) the economic viability of Bermuda is quite high compared to other populations. The Government and people of Bermuda have also shown an interest in cord blood from the initial conversations with the hospital and some of the insurers."

Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord after child birth.

It is collected because it contains stem cells, which can be used to treat almost 75 genetic disorders ranging from leukaemia to severe anaemia.

It is not considered harmful to the baby and the cord would normally just be disposed of by hospital staff. However, it is still controversial when the cord blood is stored by a private company rather than through a public bank.

When stored privately, it means only the person who owns the cord blood and their family have access to the stem cells. But when stored publicly, any matching donor can use the stem cells if they fall ill and need treatment.

Currently, cord blood is collected, cryogenically pressed and then stored in a storage facility until needed for a future transplant. Cord blood needs to be shipped off the Island within a 72 hour period to be viable. And it can be costly — at an initial fee of $2, 075 and a storage fee of $125 for each year after.

According to local spokesperson for Cord Blood America, Tony Brannon, there has been a growing interest on the Island for cord blood storage. In the past two months, four people chose to store their cord blood with the company and he claims there could be many more out there.

Out of almost 800 births a year in Bermuda, less than one percent of parents are choosing to store their umbilical cords, said Mr. Schissler.

However with time, he hopes to get cord blood storage up to the same level as the US which is about 4.1 percent or Asia, which is slightly higher.

Mr. Schissler hopes today's presentation will get local insurers to invest in the storage facility. He said the stem cells in cord blood play a key role in fighting disease, and may actually lower health care costs over time.

"We believe that Bermuda will see significant savings in health care costs," he said. "If we can show that we can reduce health care costs in a country like Bermuda it is a simple enough test case."

This will be Mr. Schissler's second meeting on the Island, the first being in October last year.


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