With the global cord blood banking industry maturing and consolidating over the past five years, it is more important than ever to be well-educated about cord blood industry trends. There are now fewer market players, because numerous small cord blood banks have either been acquired or gone out of business.
However, this era of maturation and consolidation has had as many benefits to surviving cord blood banks as drawbacks. On average, the remaining market participants are now larger, stronger, better capitalized, and storing larger quantities of cord blood and tissue units than when the market was more fragmented.
Cord Blood Industry Threats
With the global cord blood banking industry maturing substantially over the past few years, it has created both serious threats and novel opportunities.
Serious threats to the cord blood banking industry include new accreditation requirements that have increased the cost structure of cord blood banks, a recent decline in cord blood transplants within the U.S. and other geographical regions, low rates of turnover for stored cord blood units, expensive cord blood transplantation procedures costing from $200-300K each, difficulty with educating obstetricians about cellular therapies, and poor press coverage in many regions worldwide.
Other uncontrollable factors that could threaten the industry include: new legislation, changes in transplant reimbursement, continually evolving accreditation requirements, the potential for competitive approaches to be shown as more optimal, patent challenges for processing or transplant technologies, changes in public perception of private vs. public banking, shift in policy recommendations by influential medical organizations, and changes in government support.
Marketing pressures are also impacting the industry, with the term “cord blood” becoming one of the 20 most expensive search terms on Google, reaching more than $20 per click for global search traffic and close to $40 per click for U.S. search traffic.
Cord Blood Industry Opportunities
However, there are also emerging opportunities within the global cord blood baking industry, which include:
- The potential to expand market size through increasing public awareness
- New clinical trial data supporting applications for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from cord blood and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from cord tissue
- Improving public perception toward stem cell therapies
- Substantial deal-making within the industry, including mergers, acquisitions, and funding rounds
- The potential for collaboration through formation of Cord Blood Industry Associations, which have been formed within the U.S. and Brazil
- Storage of a growing range of perinatal stem cell types, to include cord blood and tissue, placental blood and tissue, and amniotic fluid and tissue
- Introduction of specialty stem cell storage services, such as dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs)
- Extending the relationship with the mother by pairing cord blood storage with genetic testing services
Global Trends the Affect Cord Blood Banking Industry
The cord blood market is global in nature, and understanding dynamics limited to your region is not sufficient for making strategic, informed, and profitable decisions. With approximately 450 cord blood banks competing worldwide, maturation of the global cord blood market means that each bank is now fighting harder for market share.
In 2008, a Taiwanese company, HealthBanks Biotech Company Ltd. became the first company to offer cord tissue storage, but it was not until July 2010 that the first private U.S. cord blood bank began offering the service (Cord Blood Registry). Since then, the trend of cord tissue storage has had a significant impact on the cord blood banking industry, with more than 50% of U.S. cord blood banks now offering the service.
Other global trends are also impacting the industry. First, cord blood banks are rapidly introducing new types of perinatal tissue storage. Second, many companies are pairing prenatal, neonatal, and maternal health services with cord blood storage services. Third, cord blood industry consolidation is occurring worldwide. Fourth, the industry is giving a great deal of attention to the pursuit of cord blood expansion technologies, because the limited cell dose present within an unmanipulated cord blood unit is restricting use within the adult patient population.
Cord blood banks are also becoming increasingly interested in becoming integrated therapeutics companies, with regenerative medicine company Celularity owning LifeBankUSA (a private U.S. cord blood bank) as an asset and Americord (another private U.S. cord blood bank) stating that it will launch a therapeutic product in late 2018.
Cord Blood Banking Industry Report
To capture and analyze rapid change within the industry, BioInformant’s Global Cord Blood Banking Industry Report discusses trends in cord blood industry clinical trials, scientific publications, patents, and grants. It also considers clinical trial market data supporting applications for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from cord blood and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from cord tissue.
This 265-page global strategic report is a must-read document for cord blood executives and investors, because it defines the size of the market, as well as provides market segmentation, trends, and projections through 2022.
Considering both traditional analytics and social analytics, it is a comprehensive overview of trends impacting the cord blood banking industry that will position you to expand, profit, and outmaneuver your competition.
About Us
As the first and only market research firm to specialize in the stem cell industry, BioInformant research has been cited by the Wall Street Journal, Xconomy, AABB, and Vogue Magazine. Serving Fortune 500 leaders that include GE Healthcare, Pfizer, and Goldman Sachs, BioInformant is your global leader in stem cell industry data.