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VIACORD

Address: 930 Winter Street, Waltham, MA 02451

Email: info@viacord.com

URL: https://www.viacord.com

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About

ViaCord has been successfully banking cord blood stem cells for more than 20 years. ViaCord is part of PerkinElmer, a $2.2 billion global company focused on the health and safety of people and the environment.

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Labs and Locations

The ViaCord Processing Laboratory is centrally located in Hebron, KY (outside Cincinnati, OH).  The laboratory is AABB accredited, CLIA certified, FDA registered, and licensed to operate in these states that require licensing: CA, MD, IL, KY, NJ, NY.

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Business Experience

•    ViaCord has stored over 470,000 cord blood and cord tissue units as of Nov. 2018, placing them among the Top 10 cord blood banks worldwide by inventory.
•    ViaCord is the #1 provider of family cord blood units for sibling transplant.
•    ViaCord has released more than 400 cord blood units for transplants or regenerative medicine infusions, here is the transplant list.
•    Family stories from ViaCord clients who used their cord blood
•   Since October 2007 ViaCord has been part of  PerkinElmer, a $2.2 billion global company focused on the health and safety of people and the environment.
•    ViaCord has the highest survival rate among those banks which have disclosed complete transplant data. The one-year survival rate of patients who were treated with ViaCord cord blood units is 88%, and the long term patient survival rate is 82%.
•    ViaCord has a history of and continues to support cord blood and cord tissue research at leading academic institutions in the areas of cardiac repair, cancer, stem cell amplification, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Stroke, Type 1 Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Liver Fibrosis, and cartilage sports injuries.
•    ViaCord is the first bank to offer families the option to extract stem cells from the umbilical cord tissue prior to storage, which recovers up to eight times more mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) compared to that of stored segments or pieces of the umbilical cord.

 

Collection Kit

•    ViaCord's FDA-approved collection bag is sterile and suitable for all deliveries including Cesarean deliveries. The collection bag was developed in collaboration with medical equipment manufacturer Pall Corporation.
•    ViaCord's cord blood collection bag is pre-filled with citrate phosphate dextrose (CPD), an FDA-approved anti-coagulant that also functions as a cell preservative. ViaCord studies have shown CPD preservative increases stem cell yield by more than 50% compared to heparin collection bags - a key consideration with regard to treatment success.
•    ViaCord's collection kit provides an antiseptic wipe to clean the umbilical cord prior to collecting the cord blood.

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Transportation container

The transport container includes a foam insulation that controls temperature during transportation to ViaCord's processing laboratory. Every umbilical cord blood unit is assessed for viability using the 7-AAD stain to ensure appropriate temperature controls were maintained during transportation.

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Shipping Info

•    ViaCord arranges shipping and uses MNX, a private medical courier service, to retrieve the sample from the hospital and arrange for transport to the processing laboratory. 
•    MNX has been the pioneer of first flight global transportation since the early 1980s, and has the experience and resources to offer time definite, temperature controlled shipping of specimens, blood, tissue, clinical, infectious materials, and live animals.
•    Courier service is available 24/7, 365 days a year.
•    Shipping cost is included in the first year service fees for U.S. collections. Additional shipping fees apply for international collections and vary depending on location.

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Processing Method

ViaCord uses the traditional manual processing method with hetastarch, which they have employed for the past 20 years.

 

Components Stored

•    Reports: ViaCord customers are provided a certificate of cryopreservation as well as a document describing the potency of the cord blood unit. 
•    In addition to storing the cord blood unit in five portions, ViaCord stores three contiguous samples for unit testing as well as a dried blood spot card for HLA typing

 

Storage Method

•    ViaCord's final product is stored in a five-compartment cryogenic storage bag and is stored in the vapor phase of cryogenic nitrogen.
•    ViaCord stores cord blood units in a 5-compartment storage bag, the VC 5X*. This storage option is comprised of five flexible compartments. It is strategically designed for multiple uses and enables families to maximize the future potential of their baby’s newborn stem cells. ViaCord’s VC 5X is an innovative alternative to the traditional storage bag consisting of 2-compartments
•    Once processing is complete, stem cells are transferred into the VC 5X storage bag for cryopreservation.
•    With ViaCord’s VC 5X storage bag, cells transfer evenly into five compartments so that 20% is stored in each compartment. This offers five potential options for use if ever needed.
•    ViaCord’s VC 5X stores the same amount of stem cells but in multiple separate compartments enabling more potential options for treatment.

* VC 5X five-chamber bag design is a trademark of SynGen, Inc.; US and Int’l Pats. Pend.

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Licensing & Accreditation

ViaCord's cord blood laboratory is FDA registered, accredited by the AABB, CLIA certified, and licensed in the states of CA, MD, IL, KY, NJ, NY.

ViaCord is one of the very first cord blood banks in the world to receive an additional AABB Somatic Cell accreditation for their process of separating stem cells from cord tissue.

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Clinical Experience

•    ViaCord has released more than 360 cord blood units, including both transplants and emerging therapies.
•    As of April 2016, 42% of ViaCord units had been used in autologous therapy for the baby who banked, while the other 58% had been used in allogeneic therapy as sibling transplants.
•    ViaCord families have participated in clinical research studies assessing the use of cord blood in the treatment of Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and Type 1 Diabetes.

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Insurance

Viacord offers the following financial compensations:

•    Annual cord blood storage fees are guaranteed not to change for 25 years
•    Families that pay storage fees in advance will be reimbursed for the unused amount if the family retrieves the unit for transplant (ie a family prepays 25 years, but retrieves the unit for use after 5 years, the family will be reimbursed the 20 years of prepaid storage fees).
•    If the final cord blood stem cell count is low (for transplant use), parents are informed and may choose to not store it and receive a full refund on processing and storage.

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Community Service

The Sibling Connection Program: This program includes ViaCord's cord blood stem cell collection, processing, and five years of storage at no cost to expecting parents who have a child in need of a transplant and meet the other enrollment requirements of the program. Any expectant family with a child who has an established diagnosis of a disease that is currently treatable with a sibling cord blood transplant may be eligible. Your child's doctor will need to complete a medical referral form for approval.

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Prices

•    No payment is due until the cord blood unit is stored at ViaCord Processing Laboratory
•   Cord Blood Banking Service Fee (Single Birth)
Processing & Courier Standard Pricing: $1575 (+ $175 annual storage fee) = $1750
•    Storage Fees (for Single Births, cord blood)
Annual storage fee is $175
20 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $2765
25 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $3225
•   Payment Plans available upon request:  6 month, 12 month,  18 month, 48 month
•   Discount Pricing: Qualified Medical Professionals receive a monetary discount on ViaCord's services. Clients that bank more than one child also receive a discount on the cost of ViaCord's service.

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Additional Services

Storage of Treatment-Ready Stem cells from Cord Tissue

ViaCord is the first family bank to offer families the option to collect and cryogenically preserve the stem cells extracted from the umbilical cord tissue. The tissue of the umbilical cord is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC); a cell type which has the potential to play a critical role in the treatment of disease. These cells are being studied in great detail in clinical models for their regenerative properties in cartilage, muscle, and nerve cells.

Cord tissue stem cell collection materials are provided by ViaCord. After the umbilical vein is drained, the umbilical cord is collected and sent to ViaCord’s processing lab using the same transportation model as collected cord blood units. Upon arrival, the umbilical cord tissue is immediately processed.

Extracting the stem cells before cryopreservation, versus freezing the tissue itself, makes the stem cells ready for clinical use without delay. ViaCord characterizes and reports on cell count and includes a contamination rate. This information will be required by a transplant physician should there be a clinical need to use the cord tissue stem cells.

Today, medical treatments using stem cells extracted from cord tissue are in clinical trials. About 50 clinical trials are currently using MSCs from cord tissue in studies that underscore their importance to the scientific community. 

 

Newborn Genetic Screening HealthCheck | NB

ViaCord offers a newborn genetic test, through its parent company PerkinElmer, that can detect more than 50 disorders in newborns.  This process, separate from banking a baby’s cord blood, provides valuable information to parents by determining the risk a baby is at for a metabolic or other inherited disorders. Many of these disorders are manageable if treatment begins early, so results from this test may prevent complications of undiagnosed disorders.

ViaCord provides a HealthCheck | NB genetic screening packet to parents to bring to the hospital on the day of delivery. The procedure, called a heel stick, is a quick and simple process in which the newborn baby's heel is pricked; 24-48 hrs after delivery by the healthcare professional, and then a small amount of the blood is collected on special filter paper. The heel stick is the most common way to draw blood from newborns. The sample is mailed to PerkinElmer’s genetics lab using the UPS Next-Day Air envelope, provided in the HealthCheck|NB screening packet. Test results are sent directly to the child’s pediatrician.

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Prices with Additional Services

•   Cord Blood + Cord Tissue stem cell banking (Single Birth)
Processing & Courier Standard Pricing: $2420 + $350 Storage Fee = $2770
•   Storage Fees (Single Birth, cord blood + cord tissue)
Annual storage fee is $350
20 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $5530
25 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $6450

•   Cord Tissue Stem Cell Banking
Total First Year Service Fee is $1275 ($1100 processing and $175 storage)
•   Storage Fees (Single Birth, cord tissue)
Annual storage fee is $175
20 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $2765
25 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $3225

•   HealthCheck | NB
Total First Year Service Fee is $299 – Stand Alone Purchase
Total First Year Service Fee is $199 – Purchased with ViaCord Cord Blood Banking

•   Complete Newborn Stem Cell Package: Cord Blood + Cord Tissue + First Year Storage & HealthCheck is $2969
•   Storage Fees (Single Birth, cord blood + cord tissue)
Annual storage fee is $350
20 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $5530
25 Years of pre-paid annual storage is $6450

•   Payment Plans available upon request:  6 month, 12 month,  18 month, 48 month

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SOURCE: https://parentsguidecordblood.org

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