Umbilical Cord Blood Banking Benefits Further Validated, Reports Viacord, A Division Of ViaCell, Inc.

BOSTON

PRNewswire

A study appearing in The New England Journal of Medicine is reinforcing the value of cord blood stem cells in current medical treatment.

Today, thousands of expectant parents are collecting and storing their newborn's umbilical cord blood for potential future use within their family in treating certain cancers such as leukemia and immune and genetic disorders. Cord blood provides an alternative source of stem cells in many situations where bone marrow is used. Since the first and successful transplant in 1988, cord blood stem cells have been increasingly used for treating a variety of otherwise life-threatening diseases. Both children and some adults have been transplanted successfully. The benefits of cord blood for transplantation are the immediate availability of cells, the absence of risk to the donor and the low risk of transmitting infectious disease.

The study released in The New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl Med 2000;342:1846-1854.) on June 22, 2000, compared the records of 113 recipients of cord blood from HLA-identical siblings to the records of 2,052 recipients of bone marrow from HLA-identical siblings. The conclusion stated that the recipients of cord blood transplants from HLA-identical siblings have a lower incidence of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) than recipients of bone marrow transplants from HLA-identical siblings.

Further, a previous study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med 1997;337:373-381.), stated that cord blood is an alternative stem cell source for transplantation _ particularly if the recipient is related. To date, Viacord, a division of ViaCell, Inc. has banked over 4,500 cord blood units. Five of the cord blood units stored with Viacord have been used in stem cell transplantation, each of which were HLA-identical siblings and each which successfully engrafted.

Many parents see the use of cord blood stem cells as a developing and promising area of medicine. Even when no known disease or risk exists, parents are choosing this birthing option, recognizing it as a onetime opportunity for their family. Viacord's Service enables expectant parents to privately store the blood from their newborn's umbilical cord for its potential future use within their family. For information on Viacord's Cord Blood Banking Service call 1-800-998-4226.

About ViaCell, Inc.

ViaCell Inc., a privately held company, was formed in April 2000 by the merger of Viacord, Inc., a cord blood stem cell banking company and t. Breeders, Inc., a developmental-stage cellular therapy company with a patented technology for expansion of stem cells.

Upon closing the merger agreement, ViaCell received $11 million in new equity capital from a syndicate of three venture capital firms led by MPM Capital of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the largest life-science venture fund that recently raised $650 million. The new equity capital will allow ViaCell to grow its cord blood stem cell banking service and fund the company's first clinical trial using expanded cord blood stem cells.

ViaCell's mission is to provide pharmaceutical grade cellular medicines for the treatment of human diseases such as cancer, certain genetic disorders, organ transplant tolerance and autoimmune diseases. ViaCell offers cord blood stem cell banking services through Viacord, a division of ViaCell, and is engaged in research and development of expanded stem cells. ViaCell expects to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA for a Phase I/II clinical trial later this year to test in humans the safety and efficacy of stem cells amplified using its proprietary system. The company maintains two facilities, with cord blood stem cell banking service operations in Boston and research and development operations in Worcester.

Contact: Joyce Craig, Marketing Director & Media Relations of Viacord, a division of ViaCell, Inc.

1-800-998-4226 ext. 29, jcraig@viacord.com

Copyright © 2000 At Home Corporation.

This article posted July 6, 2000.