Global Cord Blood & Tissue Banking Industry Report - Market Size, Segmentation, & Forecasts, 2024

The Vast Majority of the Global Cord Blood Market is Now Controlled by the World’s 10 Largest Cord Blood Banking Operators

The first transplant using cord blood-derived hematopoietic stem cells was performed in October 1988, and since that year, remarkable achievements have been made regarding research into umbilical cord blood-derived hematopoietic and progenitor cells. To date, more than 40,000 UCB transplants (UCBTs) have been performed across different geographies of the world, in both children and adults, to treat diseases that include hematologic, metabolic, immunologic, neoplastic, and neurologic disorders. There are now over 800,000 cord blood units stored in public cord blood banks and more than 6.75 million cord blood and tissue units stored within private banks worldwide.

Although cord blood storage emerged as a commercial service in the early 1990s, cord tissue storage did not emerge as a commercial service until 2008, when a Taiwanese company, HealthBanks Biotech Company Ltd., began offering the service making it the first company worldwide to do so. HealthBaby, a Hong Kong based company subsequently launched the service in 2009. Hong Kong-based Cryolife added the service in 2009 as well. Within the U.S., the Cord Blood Registry (CBR) was the first private company to begin offering cord tissue storage in July of 2010. Today, nearly all U.S. cord blood banks and approximately one-third of global cord blood banks offer cord tissue storage.

For placental banking, LifebankUSA initiated the service in the U.S. when it launched placental blood storage in 2006 and placental tissue storage in 2011. In September 2017, Americord Registry became the second U.S. cord blood bank to provide placental tissue banking. Internationally, a few dozen cord blood banks offer placental blood and tissue storage services. Some cord blood banks have also diversified into the storage of other types of stem cell derivatives, such as dental pulp stem cells. For example, DentCell is a dental pulp stem cell bank controlled by Cryoholdco, the largest cord blood banking consolidator in Latin America. A small number of cord blood banks have also expanded into adipose-derived stem cell storage.

For both therapeutic and financial reasons, the cord blood industry has been witnessing record levels of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in recent years. The vast majority of the global cord blood market is now controlled by the world’s 10 largest cord blood banking operators. Large market competitors include Global Cord Blood Corporation (GCBC), Cord Blood Registry (owned by CooperSurgical), ViaCord, Cryo-Cell International, Cordlife Group, VCANBIO Cell & Gene Engineering Corporation, Lifecell International, Cryoholdco, and Medipost.

This is incredible, given that the cord blood industry grew exponentially in the early 2000s but has consolidated dramatically since that time. Industry consolidation has been particularly compelling within the U.S, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, with:

• PBKM FamiCord consolidating the majority of the European market through aggressive M&A activity (and Cryo-Save AG's 2019 bankruptcy).
• CooperSurgical aggregates reproductive, newborn stem cell, and genetic services within the U.S., for a total of at least 1.1 million units under management.
• Cryoholdco aggregates stem cell banking assets across Latin America, including at least four assets in Mexico, two in Columbia, two in Brazil, and one in Peru, for an estimated 300,000 units.
• Sanpower Group dominates the Asian market. Headquartered in Nanjing, Sanpower owns Global Cord Blood Corporation and other assets across Southeast Asia, controlling more than 1.2 million units.

Another key market is India, which has surged to an astounding population of 1.4 billion. Recent population growth has placed it head-to-head with China as the world's most populous country. China also has a population of 1.4 billion. This means that an incredible one-third (36%) of the world's 7.8 billion people now live within these two countries. Within India, LifeCell International is the market leader, with over 320,000 stem cell units under storage.

In addition to market consolidation, there have been substantial advances made with perinatal tissue applications - including umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord tissue, placental blood and tissue, and amniotic fluid - causing storage services for these biomaterials to proliferate.

A surging number of cord blood banks are also expanding their service offerings to include:

• Reproductive and assisted fertility services
• Pre- and post-natal genetic testing services
• Cell therapy product development

Several market segments now compose the umbilical cord blood and tissue market. First, there is the storage (cryopreservation) market. This market segment generates revenue from cord blood collection and processing, as well as long-term storage contracts. In recent years, several investment firms have entered the cord blood banking market by acquiring ownership stakes in cord blood banks. Second, there is also a robust market for the use of cord blood within transplantation medicine for the treatment of diseases ranging from leukemia to sickle cell disease. To date, more than 40,000 UCB transplants (UCBTs) have been performed and over 80 medical conditions are approved to be treated using HSCs from cord blood.

Third, a growing number of companies are exploring the use of cord blood and tissue within regenerative medicine applications. In the mid-2000s, scientists started investigating cord blood in acquired neurological indications. Pilot and clinical trials enrolling pediatric patients with disorders such as cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, and acquired hearing loss have demonstrated the safety of administering minimally manipulated cord blood for therapeutic purposes. In another example, RheinCell Therapeutics (presently owned by Catalent) achieved GMP certification to manufacture cord blood-derived iPSCs for use in the production of human-grade cell therapies. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, over 1,200 clinical trials are evaluating the use of cord blood stem and progenitor cells. These studies use unmanipulated whole cord blood (total nucleated cells/TNC), mononuclear cells (MNC), or cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In April 2023, the U.S. FDA also approved the world’s first-ever expanded cord blood cell therapy (Omisirge). Omisirge is being developed by Gamida Cell as an allogeneic cord blood cell therapy to speed up the recovery of white blood cells in cancer patients.

Finally, there is a growing market for cord blood and tissue-derived research supply products, including but not limited to cells, tissues, reagents, and kits. Within the research realm, cord blood products (fresh and cryopreserved) are now being offered by a diverse range of major market leaders, including Lonza, STEMCELL Technologies, AllCells, and dozens of others.

Overall, this report presents findings on the following topics:

• Number of cord blood and tissue units cryopreserved in public and private cord blood banks worldwide
• Number of hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs) performed globally using cord blood cells
• Utilization of cord blood cells in regenerative medicine clinical trials
• The decline of the utilization of cord blood cells in HSCT since 2005
• Emerging technologies that will influence the financial sustainability of public cord blood banks
• The future scope for companion products derived from cord blood
• The changing landscape of the cord blood and tissue banking market
• Expansion and extension of services by cord blood banks
• Types of cord blood banks
• Economic model of public cord blood banks
• Cost analysis for public cord blood banks
• Economic model of private cord blood banks
• Cost analysis for private cord blood banks
• Profit margins for private cord blood banks
• Pricing for processing and storage in private banks
• Rate per cord blood unit in the U.S. and Europe
• Indications for the use of cord blood-derived HSCs within transplantation medicine
• Diseases targeted by cord blood-derived MSCs in regenerative medicine
• Cord blood processing technologies
• Number of clinical trials, number of published scientific papers, and amount of NIH funding for cord blood research
• Number and types of patents for cord blood, cord tissue, and placental products
• Transplantation data from different cord blood registries

Key questions answered within this market report are:

• What are the strategies being considered to improve the financial stability of public cord blood banks?
• What are the companion products being developed from cord blood and tissue?
• How much is spent to process and store a unit of cord blood?
• How much does a unit of cryopreserved cord blood unit fetch on release?
• Why do most public cord blood banks incur a loss?
• What is the net profit margin for a private cord blood bank?
• What are the prices for processing and storage of cord blood in private cord blood banks?
• What are the rates per cord blood unit in the U.S. and Europe?
• What are the revenues from cord blood sales for major cord blood banks?
• What are the different accreditation systems for cord blood and tissue banks?
• What are the comparative merits of the various cord blood processing technologies?
• What is to be done to increase the rate of utilization of cord blood cells in transplantation medicine?
• Which TNC counts are preferred for transplantation?
• What is the number of registered clinical trials using cord blood and cord tissue?
• How many clinical trials are studying the ex vivo expansion of cord blood?
• How many matching and mismatching transplantations using cord blood units are performed on an annual basis?
• What is the share of cord blood transplants compared to bone marrow and peripheral blood transplants from 2000 to the present?
• What is the likelihood of finding a matching allogeneic cord blood unit by ethnicity?
• Which are the top ten countries for donating cord blood?
• What are the diseases targeted by cord blood and tissue-derived MSCs within clinical trials?
• How many clinical trials are investigating the use of cord blood-derived cells? What is their breakdown by geography, study type, phase, and type of funding?
• How many clinical trials are exploring the use of cord tissue-derived cells? What is their breakdown by geography, study type, phase, and type of funding?
• What are the current patent rates and leading jurisdictions for cord blood, cord tissue, and placental patents?
• Who are the leading inventors, applicants, and owners of these perinatal stem cell patents?
• How many units are stored by public and private banks worldwide?
• Who are the leading cord blood banks by region and number of units in storage?
• What is the global market size for cord blood banking? What is the global market size for cord tissue banking? What is the global market size for the therapeutic applications of cord blood and tissue?

To summarize, this global strategic report presents a comprehensive analysis of the global cord blood and tissue banking market. It includes a detailed market size determination with breakdowns by geography, indication, and type of bank (public versus private), as well as future projections for each market segment through 2030. It reveals the number of cord blood and tissue units stored by public and private cord blood banks worldwide. It also presents the number of cord blood units (CBUs) released by registries across the world for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

It reveals the identities of companies offering cord blood storage, cord blood processing technologies, cord blood expansion technologies, and cord blood therapeutics on a global basis. It provides coverage of recent M&A transactions, including the consolidation plans executed by the largest cord blood operators worldwide. Given the accelerating complexity and competitive nature of this global market, you don’t have the time to do the research. Claim this market report to become immediately informed, without sacrificing hours of unnecessary research.