A Chinese biomedical firm has achieved unprecedented capacity to
develop large-scale, lifesaving stem cell production with stocks of
umbilical cord stem cells hitting nearly 5,000 samples, the Xinhua
News Agency reported yesterday.
The Tianjin Angsai Cell and Genome Project Company is the
country's first bank for umbilical-cord-blood-derived mesenchymal
stem cell (MSC) samples.
MSCs are multipotent stem cells that can be coaxed into
developing into most of the 220 types of human cells, and can then
be used to treat many diseases including leukemia, heart disease,
hepatitis and some forms of cancer.
Stem cell transplant is also the only known cure for
leukemia.
A constant stock of 70,000 to 100,000 samples of umbilical cord
blood can satisfy current clinical demands for treating child
patients of such afflictions in the whole country, Mao Qun'an,
spokesman of the Ministry of Health, said on Monday.
"Up to now, stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood have
been used in only 400 transplants," he said.
In mainstream transplant therapy, stem cells harvested from
donated peripheral blood and bone marrows are most commonly
used.
Most of the umbilical cord blood samples in the two-year-old
bank are from parents who pay to store samples for their children,
a division director of the bank, surnamed Li, told China
Daily.
The others are donated by women after giving birth, he said.
Wang Fang is one of the parents who placed samples in the
bank.
The 40-year-old decided to give her twin daughters MSCs
harvested from her umbilical cord blood.
Her first daughter, a leukemia patient, died from acute
repulsion after a marrow transplant.
Such samples still need approval from the authorities, Li
said.
"We are still waiting for approval from the State Food and Drug
Administration," Li said.
He added that the application to register their umbilical
cord-derived MSC stocks as biological products was filed at the end
of 2006, mainly for transplants to treat leukemia.
Once approved, it could save marrow donors from the pain
involved in bone marrow extraction, Li said.
So far, the country has no regulation on the management of
umbilical cord blood.
"Many cords are discarded by maternity hospitals and new moms,
most of whom have no idea about the subject," Tan Meng, a doctor at
the obstetrics and gynecology department of the Pinghu Hospital of
Shenzhen, said.
Only after getting consent from them can we get their samples of
umbilical cord blood and store them in our bank, Li said.
Profiteering from umbilical cord supplies is strictly
prohibited, as stipulated by the Ministry of Health.
(China Daily, February 22, 2008)