When considering the value of cord blood banking, it is interesting to consider recommendations about cord blood banking issued by medical societies, associations, and ethics committees.
In most cases, medical societies have issued positive stances toward public cord blood banking, but have shown little support for the private sector. However, there are exceptions made for families that have a predisposition to a condition in which cord stem cells could be therapeutically applied.
Recommendations on Cord Blood Banking Issued by Medical Societies
The table below shows opinions issued by medical societies about cord blood banking. Interestingly, all of these recommendations are based on outdated transplant statistics, ranging from 2004 to 2009.
As far as we are currently aware, no U.S. medical body has issued a renewed stance on cord blood banking over the past several years.
(*Note: If you are a member of a medical society that has issued a more up-to-date stance, please comment below.)
This is somewhat surprising, because technology in the cord blood industry is rapidly advancing for processing technologies, storage techniques, transplant methodologies, ex vivo expansion technologies and more. Furthermore, none of these medical societies have included a consideration of emerging therapies while establishing their positions and guidelines.
The reason that emerging therapies are not considered in these recommendations is that they cannot easily be compared against current medical alternatives. Projected therapies that may one-day exist, including those that will arise within a timeline to allow currently stored cord blood samples to be utilized, are not considered because they are speculative.
TABLE. Cord Blood Banking Opinions Issued by Medical Societies
Medical Societies Positive Toward Public Cord Blood Banking
As shown above, medical societies have issued largely positive stances toward public cord blood banking, and negative stances toward private cord blood banking, with exceptions made for families who have a history of disease that could be addressed through cord blood stem cell transplant.
However, these opinions are largely outdated and it would be optimal for new stances to be published based on newer technologies and applications.
Therefore, it is up to the individual consumer to learn about the advantages of cord blood transplant over other alternatives, such as bone marrow and peripheral blood. You are then positioned to weight the value of private cord blood storage against the cost involved.
For public cord blood banking, the costs are covered by the public bank, which makes it an intelligent choice for most (if not all) families who can access the service.
About Us
BioInformant is the first and only market research firm to specialize in the stem cell industry. BioInformant research has been featured on prominent news outlets that include the Wall Street Journal, Nature Biotechnology, Xconomy, and Vogue Magazine. Serving industry leaders that include GE Healthcare, Pfizer, and Goldman Sachs, BioInformant is your global leader in cord blood industry data.
To learn more about the cord blood banking industry, view the “Complete 2015-16 Global Cord Blood Banking Industry Report.”