Cryobanks International Adopts BioE’s Cord Blood Processing System

BioE^®, Inc. and Cryobanks International, Inc. announced today Cryobanks has adopted BioE’s PrepaCyte^®-CB Processing System for umbilical cord blood.

Cryobanks is a global leader in banking umbilical cord blood stem cells for both public donation and private family use. Its U.S. operation has converted to BioE’s proprietary cord blood processing system to obtain greater cord blood stem cell yields and improve processing efficiency. Cryobanks previously employed a hetastarch method to process cord blood units.

“Using PrepaCyte-CB will enable us to set a new industry standard for processing and storing stem cells from cord blood,” said Robert Gravely, chief operating officer for Cryobanks. “Our goal when processing cord blood, whether for donation or private storage, is banking the highest quality product possible. With PrepaCyte-CB, we can better ensure cord blood from our bank contains the highest stem cell yields available for families and transplanting physicians.”

“While participating in BioE’s multi-center clinical study in 2007, we were impressed by PrepaCyte-CB’s ability to improve stem cell yields and eliminate nearly 100 percent of unnecessary red blood cells (RBCs) from the final processed cord blood,” said Donald Hudspeth, general manager and international projects manager for Cryobanks. “This is a significant achievement in the cord blood banking industry and, we believe, a tremendous benefit to our processing and storage operations.”

Based on independent internal testing, Cryobanks - a National Marrow Donor Program member bank - also determined that processing cord blood with PrepaCyte-CB saves significant processing time per cord blood unit compared to its former processing method. The time-savings PrepaCyte-CB delivers will allow Cryobanks’ staff to utilize their time more efficiently and process more units.

“The cord blood industry is quickly evolving, and we’re pleased Cryobanks recognizes the immediate and tangible benefits PrepaCyte-CB can bring its organization,” said Michael Haider, president and chief executive officer for BioE.

“We are confident PrepaCyte-CB will play a key role in Cryobanks’ future, as this premier cord blood bank continues to advance its commitment to saving lives via public and private cord blood banking,” said Gayl Chrysler, vice president of cellular technologies and clinical affairs for BioE. “We look forward to bringing our PrepaCyte-CB technology to many other cord blood banks around the world. BioE is dedicated to offering a product that will allow cord blood banks to address increasing regulatory and economic pressures.”