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MAGAZINE|DEC06,2010

MEDICINE:BANKING

FutureShocked
Cellbankingonlyagoodbusinessidea?
DEBARSHIDASGUPTA

uttingprofitwayaheadofscience,privatebanking(orlongtermstorage)ofnewstemcellsourceshas

takenoffevenbeforeolderstemcellbasedregenerativetherapiesareindisputablyestablished.Atleasttwo
firms(StemadeandDhruvPolyclinic,bothMumbaibased)haveinthelastfewmonthslaunchedbanking
servicesformilkteeth,dentalpulpfromwhichcanprovidestemcells.ChennaibasedLifecell,ontheother
hand,issoonexpectedtolaunchitsmenstrualbloodbankingfacility.Thesedevelopmentscomeatatime
whentheIndianCouncilofMedicalResearch(ICMR)stillconsidersallstemcellrelatedtherapiesexcept
bonemarrowtransplants,andthatforcertainacceptedindicationsasexperimental.
MayurAbhaya,CEOofLifecell,agreesthatthescienceisstillevolving.Stemcellsderivedfrommenstrual
bloodarebeingtestedonarangeofdisorderslikearthritis,diabetes,heartfailure,spinalcordinjuriesand
Parkinsons,butrightnowtheycannotcureadisease.Thescienceisntestablishedyet,hesays.
ItisthiscriticaluncertaintythatgetsneatlyobfuscatedintheslickpromosfeaturingactorHrithikRoshanand
attractivepackagesthatsellamonthlymiraclewithhighpotentialandpromisetotreatmanyserious
ailments.Lifecellhopestohavesome3,000customersforitsmenstrualbloodbankingservicewithinayear.
Itscordbloodbankingservicealreadyhas30,000customers.Likewise,DhruvPolyclinicsellsitsschemefor
storingstemcellsfromdentalpulpastheultimateprotection,whileStemadeoffersthepotentialtoshield
fromcriticalhealthconcerns.

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TheDelhibasedStemCellGlobalFoundationexpectsIndiasstemcellbankingbusinesstogrowat35per
centoverthenextyeartotouchRs140crore.ItcostsaboutRs50,000atminimumforthecellstobe
isolatedandstoredforsome20yearsandtheresnoguarantee,orrefund,iftheyfailtowork.Abhayas
logic:Therelljustbefinancialloss.Asitis,therearesomanywomenwhohaveannualgymsubscriptions
theyneveruse.Ifthetherapyiseverdeveloped,atleastyouhavetheoptionofusingit.

Cellbanksare
chargingpeople
heftilytostorebody
partsforafuture
thataimstomake
suchstorage
redundant.

Againstthatspiel,customersmustweighwhatV.M.Katoch,thedirector
generalofICMR,hastosay.Inanemail,hedeniedknowledgeofbanks
storinganystemcellsourceotherthanumbilicalcordblood.Askedifbanks
storingmenstrualbloodanddentalpulpweresellinghopebasedon
unestablishedscience,hesays,Ifitisso,thenyes.Technically,thesetwo
firmsdonothavestoragefacilitiesinIndia.DhruvPolyclinicsendsthepulpto
itsUSfacilityStemadeborrowsLifecellsfacilityinChennai.

KatochalsosaysbanksinIndiahavetobeauthorisedbytheDrugController
GeneralofIndiaandanynewstemcelltherapywillhavetoundergotrialsafter
dueapproval.ICMRhasalreadyannouncedthecreationoftheNationalApex
CommitteeforStemCellResearchandTherapy(NACSCRT)toserveasaregistryofalltrialsofnewerstem
celltherapies.

Butthechancesofoneneedingstemcelltherapyareslim.TheAmericanAcademyofPediatricssaysthere
isonlyasmallchanceonein1,000toonein200,000thatachildwithoutanyknowndiseaseriskmight
everneedcordbloodfromabank.Moreover,scientificleapscouldmakebankingredundant:anycellmay
onedaybeusedtoregenerateanykindoftissue.Thesebanksmusttakeinformedconsentfromfamilies,let
themknowthepresentstatusoftheunproventechnologyandnotmakefalsepromises,saysKatoch.Think
carefullythen,beforebankingpartofyou.
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