Factors Influencing the Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Industry: An Evolving Treatment Landscape

• Published in: Stem cells translational medicine Vol. 7; no. 9; pp. 643 - 650
• Main Authors: Dessels, Carla, Alessandrini, Marco, Pepper, Michael Sean
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 01.09.2018; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Banks; Blood Banks; Bone marrow; Bone surgery; Clinical Application / Translation; Clinical Trials; Cord / Cord Blood Stem Cells (WJ-MSCs); Cord Blood; Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation; Costs; Fetal Blood - cytology; Haploidentical transplantation; Hematopoietic Disorders; Hematopoietic stem cells; Hematopoietic Stem Cells - cytology; Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells; Humans; Industry; Nervous System Diseases - pathology; Nervous System Diseases - therapy; Neurodegeneration / Neurological Disorders; Patients; Peripheral blood; Regenerative Medicine; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Stem Cells - cytology; Stem Cells - metabolism; Translation; Translational s and Reviews; Transplants & implants; Trends; Umbilical cord; Umbilical cord blood; Umbilical cord blood banking; Umbilical cord blood banking; Umbilical cord blood; Regenerative medicine; Haploidentical transplantation
• ISSN: 2157-6564; 2157-6580
• DOI: 10.1002/sctm.17-0244

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is common practice today for life threatening malignant and non‐malignant diseases of the blood and immune systems. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is rich in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and is an attractive alternative to harvesting HSCs from bone marrow or when mobilized into peripheral blood. One of the most appealing attributes of UCB is that it can be banked for future use and hence provides an off‐the‐shelf solution for patients in urgent need of a transplantation. This has led to the establishment of publicly funded and private UCB banks, as seen by the rapid growth of the UCB industry in the early part of this century. However, from about 2010, the release of UCB units for treatment purposes plateaued and started to decrease year‐on‐year from 2013 to 2016. Our interest has been to investigate the factors contributing to these changes. Key drivers influencing the UCB industry include the emergence of haploidentical HSCT and the increasing use of UCB units for regenerative medicine purposes. Further influencing this dynamic is the high cost associated with UCB transplantation, the economic impact of sustaining public bank operations and an active private UCB banking sector. We foresee that these factors will continue in a tug‐of‐war fashion to shape and finally determine the fate of the UCB industry. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2018 Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2018;7:643–650 Evolution and factors influencing the future growth of the umbilical cord (UCB) industry. Positive influencers will allow for a plateau or rise in UCB usage, while negative influencers will result in a further decline.