PerkinElmer expands ViaCord service with stem cell harvesting

PerkinElmer is expanding the remit of its family cord blood banking business ViaCord to provide greater stem cell harvesting capabilities.

The life science company will now be offering users the ability to extract stem cells from the tissue surrounding umbilical cord vessels, which is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells.

This proprietary service is being offered to expectant parents via an exclusive licensing agreement with Tissue Regeneration Therapeutics, as part of its current cord tissue stem cell service.

Since its introduction, ViaCord has been able to preserve the umbilical cord blood of more than 250,000 newborns, thus aiding the treatment of nearly 80 diseases.

Morey Kraus, chief scientific officer for ViaCord, said: "This research is intended to achieve results that may guide clinical studies of stem cell applications for joint diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, as well as autoinflammatory diseases."

Earlier this month, the company announced the launch of the HCA ImagAmp reagent kit, for use in various life science imaging applications.