Cordlife was given the green light to resume its cord blood banking services in a controlled manner from Sept 15 to January 2025

Cordlife Group Limited (Cordlife) has unveiled its enhanced processing and storage facility, featuring strengthened operational protocols and advanced laboratory monitoring systems, among other changes on Sept 17. 

The news comes after the company was given the green light to resume its cord blood banking activities in Singapore “in a controlled manner” where Cordlife will not be able to collect, test and/or more than 30 new cord blood units per month from infant donors. The approval, which spans from Sept 15 to Jan 13, 2025, was given by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Aug 29 after it determined that Cordlife’s facility has “met the essential criteria necessary”.

A key improvement to the company’s 5,400 square feet facility is its new laboratory monitoring system. The system tracks the temperature of 27 cryogenic storage tanks and other critical equipment, ensuring 24/7 real-time surveillance both on-site and remotely. This monitoring system is equipped with its own power source, while other equipment in the facility is supported by multiple power supplies and a backup generator.

Furthermore, the company has strengthened core processes and has implemented several failsafe measures. 

The company has also completed validation of its AXP® II system, a US FDA-approved automated platform for processing cord blood, under MOH’s supervision. 

According to Cordlife’s group CEO Ivan Yiu, the company has increased laboratory and technical personnel by 18%, with plans to recruit more experts and professionals. The company has also established an oversight committee comprising of some board members and management, alongside a medical and technical advisory board. 

Cordlife has engaged Shandong Qilu Stemcell Engineering Co. Ltd (Shandong Qilu), a company managing about 1 million cord blood units and facilitating over 10,000 cord blood transplants in China. 

These improvements have been implemented following an incident where MOH found that seven of their 22 cord blood unit storage tanks had been exposed to suboptimal storage temperatures. 

Cordlife has reached out to active clients who have been affected by temperature excursions in two cryogenic storage tanks and a dry shipper, offering a refund of annual fees from the start of the incident and waiving subsequent fees until the maturity of the service agreement when the child turns 21. Additionally, donated cord blood units stored in five other cryogenic tanks are undergoing further testing and billings for these clients have been paused pending the test results. 

Chen Xiaoling, Cordlife’s group executive director, expressed her apologies for the “distress the incident has caused”, reaffirming that they had undergone “vigorous evaluation” to prevent such incidents from happening again. 

As at 2.38pm, units in Cordlife are trading flat at 14.7 cents.