Cord Blood Registry Achieves Stem Cell Recovery with new Automation Technology

Cord Blood Registry® (CBR) has announced that it has completed initial validation testing of the company's CellAdvantage™ system using new automation technology for cell processing, developed byThermoGenesis and distributed by GE Healthcare.

According to Company, the new technology, called the AXP AutoXpress™ Platform (AXP™), is the industry's first functionally-closed, automated cord blood stem cell processing technology.

The FDA-required validation testing demonstrated that CBR's CellAdvantage system can meet or exceed the company's current mononucleated cell (MNC) - or stem cell - recovery rate of 98 percent, which is the highest published cell recovery rate in the industry. CBR will present data results at an upcoming medical meeting.

"Achieving these extremely high cell recovery rates through automation is a very significant advancement for our company and for the families we serve," said Tom Moore, chief executive officer of CBR.

"Our business is experiencing dramatic growth as expectant parents increasingly choose to preserve their baby's cord blood stem cells with us. By integrating AXP automation technology into our CellAdvantage system, CBR is the only family bank that will be able to increase our cell processing capacity and at the same time maintain or exceed our industry-leading cell recovery rates."

Cord Blood Registry is the first and only family cord blood bank to adopt this cutting-edge technology and offer it to consumers who wish to cryopreserve their own genetically-related stem cells for future therapeutic use. The world's largest public donation bank, The New York Blood Center, has also adopted AXP processing.

"In our selection process, we closely evaluated the two automated cell processing systems available on the market," said Moore. "We determined that only AXP can deliver cell recovery rates that can exceed our current cell separation process and do so consistently."

Published studies on the other system CBR evaluated, SEPAX, show mean MNC cell recovery rates ranging from 77.4 percent to 87.7 percent with a variability ranging from +/- 9.72 percent to +/- 27.8 percent.

"This data did not meet CBR quality standards and fell short of our current capabilities," said Moore.

"We have only one chance to process these cells and every family needs to know that they can expect to get the highest possible cell recovery and quality when they bank with CBR. Studies have correlated survival rates and improved outcomes with the number of stem cells used in therapy."