While the cord blood banking industry emerged in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the cord tissue storage industry didn’t emerge until much later when a Taiwanese company launched the service in 2008 (Healthbank Biotech). By 2009, two companies in Hong Kong were offering the service of cord tissue storage. It took until 2010 for the first U.S. cord blood bank, Cord Blood Registry (CBR) to offer the service, which it started in July 2010.
Today, the majority of private U.S. cord blood banks offer the service. A more in-depth analysis of the rate of market penetration within the U.S. is provided below.
History of Cord Tissue Storage
When an analysis of cord tissue storage was first completed by BioInformant in 2013, only nine companies where offering the service in the United States. These companies are shown in the table below.
TABLE. U.S. CORD BLOOD BANKS OFFERING CORD TISSUE STORAGE IN 2013
| # | Company | Website Link about Cord Tissue Storage |
| 1 | Americord | http://americordblood.com/cord-tissue-banking |
| 2 | Cord Blood Registry | http://www.cordblood.com/benefits-cord-blood/cord-tissue |
| 3 | FamilyCord | http://www.familycord.com/cord-blood-overview/why-bank-cord-tissue |
| 4 | LifeBankUSA | http://www.lifebankusa.com/enrollment/lifebankusa-pricing/#.VL2gekfF-RU |
| 5 | MAZE | http://www.mazecordblood.com/cord-tissue-banking.php |
| 6 | MiracleCord | http://www.miraclecord.com/banking-cord-blood-cord-tissue.html |
| 7 | New England Cord Blood Bank | https://cordbloodbank.com/what-is-cord-tissue/ |
| 8 | The Genesis Bank | http://www.thegenesisbank.com/cord-tissue-cord-blood-banking |
| 9 | Viacord | www.viacord.com/viacord-cord-tissue-stem-cell-banking.htm |
By 2015, there were 17 cord blood banks within the U.S. that offer cord tissue storage, an 89% increase over approximately a two-year period.
A list of U.S. cord blood banks offering the service of cord tissue storage by September 2015 is shown below.
TABLE. U.S. CORD BLOOD BANKS OFFERING CORD TISSUE STORAGE IN 2015
Pricing of Cord Tissue Storage
Pricing for umbilical cord tissue storage can be handled several different ways, as shown in the table below.
TABLE. PRICING STRUCTURES FOR CORD TISSUE STORAGE
| Option | Description |
| Stand-Alone Service | As a stand-alone, independent service (cord tissue banking only). Most commonly, this service is priced as an up-front collection fee and an annual storage fee. |
| Combined Service | As a combined service of cord blood banking and cord tissue banking together. |
| Full-Spectrum Package | As a full-spectrum package of cord blood banking, cord tissue banking, and placental banking (in the U.S. this is offered by LifeBank USA[1] and Americord[2]). |
Regardless of the pricing package or structure, the average price range for cord tissue storage is currently between USD $125 to $175 per year.
The ability to cross-sell clients the service of cord tissue storage has made the offering popular among cord blood banks, as have expanding applications for cord tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (CT-MSCs).
Interested to learn more about the cord blood and tissue market? View the “Global Cord Blood Indusrtry Report.”
Footnotes
[1] LifebankUSA, (2014). Cord Blood Banking Pricing | LifebankUSA. [online] Available at: http://www.lifebankusa.com/enrollment/lifebankusa-pricing/#.VFgMuPnF91U [Accessed 3 Nov. 2014].
[2] Umbilical Cord Blood Banking and Cord Tissue Banking, (2014). Cord Blood Banking Cost | Americord. [online] Available at: http://americordblood.com/cord-blood-costs-and-services [Accessed 1 Nov. 2014].