Cord Blood Registry (CBR) is the largest U.S. cord blood bank. To date, CBR has stored more than 500,000 cord blood and cord tissue samples, while ViaCord has stored 350,000 samples and Cryo-Cell has stored 240,000 samples.
While these storage counts may include cord blood and tissue units collected by their international divisions, these three industry players are the clear market leaders within the U.S. private cord blood banking industry.
Another interesting company within the American cord blood sector is Americord, who has had the most rapid growth rate of any U.S. cord blood bank over the past few years.[1] To date, Americord has stored approximately 35,000 cord blood and tissue units, which represents only 7% as many units as the U.S. market leader, Cord Blood Registry.
Meaning, while Americord is a most assuredly a fast-growth company, it is not yet a market leader when assessed by units stored.
Cord Blood Industry Quality Guarantees
As industry leaders emerge, it is valuable to examine which qualities set them apart from their competitors. There are a number of identifiable markers that separate the dominant players within the cord blood industry from the less dominant ones. For instance, Americord currently has a few characteristics that could explain its growth rate advantage over Cord Blood Registry, including lower costs for collection and 20 years of storage (standard contract term), no cancellation fees, and a higher quality guarantee.
Another characteristic that can distinguish one cord blood bank from another is the amount of its quality guarantee. The primary reason for a cord blood bank to offer a quality guarantee is to reassure prospects that banking their child’s cord blood is a protected investment.
Quality guarantees ensure that if a cord blood unit is needed for medical purposes and the cells do not engraft, then a specific dollar amount will be paid out to the client. A cord blood bank offering a guarantee would pay out the amount of their guarantee to assist the client with finding an alternative source of stem cells, such as those from a matched bone marrow, peripheral blood, or cord blood donor.
Inherently, there are risks to cord blood banks who offer quality guarantees, because biological responses vary and each patient is unique.
Comparison of Quality Guarantees Among Cord Blood Banks
Currently, the top cord blood banks in America offer quality guarantee packages that range from $25,000 – $100,000, with Cryo-Cell topping that list at $100,000.
Interestingly, Americord raised its guarantee from $80,000 to $90,000 in mid-2014 to separate itself from the competition.[2] Cryo-Cell International raised its guarantee to $100,00 in 2017. New England Cord Blood Bank’s (NECBB) Engraftment Guarantee was a recent addition as well.
Below, quality guarantees offered by leading private cord blood banks within the United States are compared. Different cord blood banks handle guarantees differently, and this provides a diverse range of choices for clients.
Three leading banks – CorCell, PacifiCord, and Cord Blood Registry – provide the industry average of $50,000 dollars. This dollar value appears to be generally accepted as the “mid-line” within the spectrum of guarantees.
On the lower end of the spectrum, ViaCord ($25,000) and M.A.Z.E. Cord Blood (cost of reimbursement only) offer much less than the industry standard. ViaCord says on its website that they offer an amount to “defray the cost of procuring an alternative stem cell source.”
M.A.Z.E. Cord Blood’s guarantee states only that they “will reimburse you for the costs of collection and storage of these cells.”[3] The company qualifies this low amount by stating that they do not put out exceptions to their quality guarantees, while other companies include a variety of exclusions and exceptions in their guarantees.
A large number of U.S. cord blood banks choose not to offer a quality guarantee. For instance, FamilyCord and AlphaCord do not offer a quality guarantee.
At the high-end of the spectrum, Cryo-Cell ($100,000), Americord Registry ($90,000), and New England Cord Blood Bank ($80,000) offer much more than the industry standard.
A summary of these findings is shown in the graph and table below.
| COMPANY | GUARANTEE |
| Cryo-Cell | $100,000 |
| Americord Registry | $90,000 |
| New England Cord Blood Bank | $80,000 |
| Cord Blood Registry (CBR) | $50,000 |
| Cor-Cell | $50,000 |
| PacifiCord | $50,000 |
| ViaCord | $25,000 |
About Us
BioInformant is the first and only market research firm to specialize in the stem cell industry. BioInformant research has been cited by major news outlets that include the Wall Street Journal, Nature Biotechnology, Xconomy, 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.
To learn more about the cord blood banking industry, view the “Complete 2017-18 Global Cord Blood Banking Industry Report.”
Footnotes:
[1] Umbilical Cord Blood Banking and Cord Tissue Banking,. ‘With Record Cord Blood Collections, Americord Aims For Inc. 500 | Americord’. N.p., 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
[2] Prnewswire.com, (2014). Americord Backs Up Its Cord Blood Services With First Ever $90,000 Guarantee. [online] Available at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americord-backs-up-its-cord-blood-services-with-first-ever-90000-guarantee-251940891.html [Accessed 6 Nov. 2014].
[3] Viacord.com, (2014). Using Cord Blood | ViaCord. [online] Available at: http://www.viacord.com/cord-banking/using-cord-blood/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2014].