The Role of Cord Blood in Cell Therapy by Mr Arun Prasath

Since the first successful cord blood transplant in 1988, cord blood has been studied extensively for treating haematological malignancies and disorders.

There are currently more than 800,000 cord blood units available in public cord blood banks worldwide, in which only 5% are released for unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. However, as cellular products are in high demand in research and clinical settings, donated cord blood units and cryo-preserved clinical grade units are readily available for manufacturing of cellular therapy products.

 This session will cover the bioethics, informed consent requirements, current availability of cord blood for research and clinical application in Singapore, regulatory compliance, and cord blood/cord tissue as a starting material in the development of cell therapy products.