Cordlife resumes services with prices reduced 20-25%, but intake capped by MOH at 30 units a month

The Straits Times

17 Sep 2024

SINGAPORE – Cordlife resumed its cord blood banking services on Sept 15 after a hiatus of 9½ months, during which it overhauled its facilities and operations to meet the standards required by the ...

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One of the best stock trading platforms in Singapore.","ogImage":"https://c1.itigergrowtha.com/portal5/static/media/og-logo.be62fbe1.png","ogUrl":"https://www.itiger.com/news/2468396993"},"companyName":"Tiger Brokers"},"pageData":{"isMobile":false,"isTiger":false,"isTTM":true,"region":"SGP","license":"TBSG","edition":"fundamental"},"__swrFallback__":{"@#url:\"https://stock-news.skytigris.cn/v3/news\",params:#id:\"2468396993\",edition:\"fundamental\",,,undefined,":{"share":"https://ttm.financial/m/news/2468396993?lang=en_US&edition=fundamental","thumbnail":"","is_english":true,"pubTime":"2024-09-17 16:45","share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","id":"2468396993","market":"sg","top_or_hot":-1,"title":"Cordlife resumes services with prices reduced 20-25%, but intake capped by MOH at 30 units a month","media":"The Straits Times","content":"<html><body><div>\n<p>SINGAPORE – Cordlife resumed its cord blood banking services on Sept 15 after a hiatus of 9½ months, during which it overhauled its facilities and operations to meet the standards required by the ...</p>\n<a href=\"https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/cordlife-resumes-services-with-prices-reduced-20-25-but-intake-capped-by-moh-at-30-units-a-month\">Source Link</a>\n</div>\n</body></html>","source":"straits_highlight","html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta content=\"text/html; 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color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nCordlife resumes services with prices reduced 20-25%, but intake capped by MOH at 30 units a month\n</h2>\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2024-09-17 16:45 GMT+8   <a href=\"https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/cordlife-resumes-services-with-prices-reduced-20-25-but-intake-capped-by-moh-at-30-units-a-month\"><strong>The Straits Times</strong></a>\n</h4>\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>SINGAPORE – Cordlife resumed its cord blood banking services on Sept 15 after a hiatus of 9½ months, during which it overhauled its facilities and operations to meet the standards required by the ...</p>\n<a href=\"https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/cordlife-resumes-services-with-prices-reduced-20-25-but-intake-capped-by-moh-at-30-units-a-month\">Source Link</a>\n</div>\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"BK6511","symbol_name":"医疗保健服务概念","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/cordlife-resumes-services-with-prices-reduced-20-25-but-intake-capped-by-moh-at-30-units-a-month","article_id":"2468396993","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":[],"rights":{"source":"straits_highlight","url":"https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/cordlife-resumes-services-with-prices-reduced-20-25-but-intake-capped-by-moh-at-30-units-a-month","rn_cache_url":null,"customStyle":"","selectors":"body","filters":"","directOrigin":true},"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2468396993","pubTimestamp":1726562700,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"straits_highlight","name":"Straits Times"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"SINGAPORE – Cordlife resumed its cord blood banking services on Sept 15 after a hiatus of 9 months, during which it overhauled its facilities and operations to meet the standards required by the Ministry of Health .The green light it has received from the ministry comes with caveats, including being allowed to receive no more than 30 new cord blood units  a month for the first six months. This is less than 10 per cent of the roughly 400 units a month that it used to get.However, this limit will not affect the company much in the initial months as very few parents sign up at the point of birth. The majority do so in the third trimester, so it will likely be a while before Cordlife receives new CBUs.But more important, said Mr Yiu, is the change in the culture. “There’s only so much a manager can do. What’s more important is that every staff actually has a sense of responsibility, with peer supervision, to ensure that everyone in the lab is always doing the right thing, so","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"straitstimes.com","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"BK6511":"医疗保健服务概念","BK6100":"保健护理服务","P8A.SI":"康盛人生"},"translate_title":"Cordlife恢复服务，价格降低20-25%，但卫生部限制每月30台","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"P8A.SI":1},"content_text":"SINGAPORE – Cordlife resumed its cord blood banking services on Sept 15 after a hiatus of 9½ months, during which it overhauled its facilities and operations to meet the standards required by the Ministry of Health (MOH). \nThe green light it has received from the ministry comes with caveats, including being allowed to receive no more than 30 new cord blood units (CBUs) a month for the first six months. This is less than 10 per cent of the roughly 400 units a month that it used to get. \nHowever, this limit will not affect the company much in the initial months as very few parents sign up at the point of birth. The majority do so in the third trimester, so it will likely be a while before Cordlife receives new CBUs.\n\n\n\nMOH shut down the firm’s operations on Nov 30, 2023, after finding that seven of its 22 storage tanks had been exposed to temperatures above minus 150 deg C, which could result in damage to the stem cells in the cord blood, making them non-viable.\nCord blood contains stem cells that may be used to treat blood diseases and some cancers, such as leukaemia and lymphoma, should the baby develop these illnesses later in life. \nOf the 35 units withdrawn from Cordlife since it was set up in 2001 as the first cord blood bank in Singapore, 15 were used to treat autism, 11 for cerebral palsy and five for leukaemia. The other four were for neuroblastoma, aplastic anaemia, global development delay and hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy.\n\n\n\nCordlife group executive director Chen Xiaoling said the company has already received a few new customers who signed up on Sept 16. \n\nCordlife has reduced its pricing by about 20 per cent to 25 per cent compared with what it was charging in 2023 before the troubles surfaced.\nOutlining measures the firm has taken to rectify the problems, group chief executive Ivan Yiu said: “We did a full investigation to understand the root cause of the incident. This was done together with the MOH. We found there were certain shortcomings within the organisation, with regard to the technical expertise. We also strengthened our internal processes and implemented protocols.”\nOver the past months, it has conducted staff training to increase their level of expertise. It has also upgraded its laboratory monitoring system to provide 24/7 remote monitoring. \n\n\n\nThere is now a three-tier alert system, with the first alert going out to the person on duty, followed 10 minutes later by an alert to the supervisor and finally to the top management.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\nNew protocols include staff checking the temperatures of the cryogenic tanks every morning. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN\n\n\n\n \n\n\nNew protocols include staff checking the temperatures of the cryogenic tanks every morning.\nBut more important, said Mr Yiu, is the change in the culture. “There’s only so much a manager can do. What’s more important is that every staff actually has a sense of responsibility, with peer supervision, to ensure that everyone in the lab is always doing the right thing, so that such incidents will not happen.”\nCordlife has also employed four more senior level laboratory and technical staff, bringing the total to 23, and added one more cryogenic tank.\nMr Yiu added that the company has shared what it has learnt in Singapore, such as the more stringent monitoring system and protocols, with its other facilities in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.\n\n\n\n\n\nMore On This Topic\n\n \n\nCordlife loses accreditation with blood banking body, posts $12.4 million first-half loss     \n\n\n\n \n\nCordlife subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Malaysia obtain re-accreditations\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMOH had found that seven storage tanks and a dry shipper meant for short-term storage while cord blood units are being transported might have been compromised.\nInitial audits found that the 2,200 CBUs in one of the tanks have been damaged, and are unlikely to be suitable for stem cell transplant purposes. \nAfter further investigations, MOH deemed that about 5,300 CBUs stored in another tank and the dry shipper were also “non-viable as they are unlikely to be suitable for stem cell transplant purposes”. It had found that eight out of 12 samples from the tank and five out of 12 samples from the dry shipper had failed the tests.\nMOH added in a statement in April: “The remaining five tanks have been assessed to be at low risk of being adversely affected by the temperature warming events. MOH’s experts have recommended that Cordlife test a larger number of CBUs in these five tanks to obtain a more statistically significant result and further ascertain the status of the CBUs stored in these tanks.”\nThe company has contacted all its affected clients. It has come to an agreement with about half, and is still in discussion with the rest.\nMr Yiu said all the CBUs in the affected tanks are still being stored, unless requested otherwise by the client, as some CBUs may still be viable. This will be known only when they are withdrawn for use, and tested. \nShould such CBUs not be suitable for use, there is a warranty clause where the company will source a compatible CBU for the client.\n\n\n\n\n\nMore On This Topic\n\n \n\nImpact of Cordlife’s extended suspension being closely monitored: Nanjing Xinjiekou\n\n\n\n \n\nCan cord blood units be transferred from one bank to another?","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":1}}}