Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Industry & Economy
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Health Web Extras - Medical & Surgical Equipments LifeCell to introduce C’elle Divya Trivedi Mumbai, Jan 9 LifeCell, a Chennai-based ‘cord stem cell bank’ has entered into a technical collaboration with US based Cryo-Cell to collect and store the stem cells from menstrual blood. “We will start setting up collection centres by March this year; we have already started educating patients regarding this through our 150 hospitals including Lilavati in Mumbai,” said Mr. S Abhaya Kumar, Vice Chairman, LifeCell, speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of a news conference. This technology, launched in the US a few months ago, is used in the treatment of diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers. It also has cosmo-ceutical applications like anti-ageing and wound healing, said Mr Kumar. The technology, (called C’elle) is from Florida-based Cryo-Cell International, a company with which LifeCell has several other technical tie-ups.
LifeCell recently started its ‘public cord stem cell’ operations, where umbilical cord blood stem cells from donors are collected, stored and made available to the public. The cells are collected from voluntary donors free of charge but sold to clients for a cost. “The processing cost is high and we store the cells for at least 21 years. Many celebrities such as Priya Dutt and Raveena Tandon have approached us for the services,” said Mr. Kumar. The company has invested Rs 10 crore in its public cord bank operations, which are headquartered at Chennai. It plans a further investment of Rs 40 crore over the next three years, he said. LifeCell is set to offer its products in the Maldives, Seychelles and Bangladesh by March 2008 through its marketing offices, employing around five people in each centre. Mr Kumar pegged the global market for stem cell public banks at close to Rs 240 crore ($ 60 million). LifeCell expects to get revenues of Rs 60 crore by 2008-09. The company’s current revenue is Rs 25 crore, he said. More Stories on : Health | Medical & Surgical Equipments
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