PerkinElmer’s ViaCord releases 250th cord blood stem cell unit

PerkinElmer has announced that its family cord blood and tissue preservation business ViaCord has released its 250th umbilical cord blood stem cell unit.

In reaching this milestone, ViaCord has released more units for use in medical treatments and clinical trials than any other family bank, aiding efforts to combat nearly 80 diseases.

The company has been life-saving stem cells for disease therapies using a proven method of processing and cryopreserving cord blood for almost two decades, with researchers using the units to study conditions such as acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, thalassaemia major and sickle cell disease.

Its 250th unit was used to treat a patient enrolled in a clinical trial assessing the potential benefits of autologous reinfusion of cord blood stem cells for children with cerebral palsy.

Morey Kraus, chief scientific officer at ViaCord, said: "The benefits of cord blood banking are constantly evolving as research, some of which ViaCord has been instrumental in supporting, continues to expand the number of diseases treated."

This comes after the firm introduced GFR-Vivo 680, a new fluorescent agent that allows researchers to measure glomerular filtration rate non-invasively, last month.