Public-private partnership in cord blood banking

doi:10.1136/bmj.39489.454699.AD

BMJ 2008;336:642-644 (22 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39489.454699.AD

Analysis

Public-private partnership in cord blood banking

Nicholas M Fisk, professor of obstetrics and fetal medicine ¹, Rifat Atun, professor of international health management²

¹ Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN , ² Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ

Correspondence to: N M Fisk nfisk@uq.edu.au

Demand for stem cells from cord blood is greater than supply.Nicholas Fisk and Rifat Atun examine the potential of Virgin’scombination of personal and public banking to increase storage

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Cord blood is usually discarded at birth but is rich in haemopoieticstem cells, which are increasingly used as an alternative tobone marrow for transplantation. Umbilical blood may also containmesenchymal stem cells, which in future might be used to repairdamaged tissues in a range of diseases such as strokes, heartattacks, renal failure, and diabetes.

Many countries established altruistic public banks of cord bloodin response to the increasing need for haemopoietic stem cellsfor patients with leukaemia and genetic conditions.¹ ² ³ Thelimited coverage of these banks, together with the future potentialfor stem cell cures, led to the introduction of private autologousbanking of both haemopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells fromcord blood. However, many health professionals oppose privatebanking because of its speculative and commercial nature. Consumersface an array of providers with conflicting information on theusefulness of banked cord blood. We analyse the . . . [Full text of this article]

Public banks and unmet need

Private cord blood banking

Professional opposition
Burden of collection
Commercial risks

New model

Virgin Health Bank’s business model
Establishing trust
Dual private-public banking
Charitable contribution to research
High profile

Challenges

Summary points

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NHS maternity units should not encourage commercial banking of umbilical cord blood: Leroy C Edozien
BMJ 2006 333: 801-804. [Full Text] [PDF]

Umbilical cord blood banks in the UK: S J Proctor, A M Dickinson, T Parekh, and C Chapman
BMJ 2001 323: 60-61. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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