The upcoming storage facility of CordLife may be able to defray the expensive medical costs related to stem cell transplants for the parents in Calcutta where a recently launched medical insurance plan in Singapore has the scheme of preserving the cord blood of their newborns.

Tissue banking subsidiary, CordLife of the leading cell therapy services company CyGenics Ltd has entered into an agreement with one of the largest insurance companies in Singapore, NTUC Income.

The tie-up will provide existing and future CordLife customers with medical coverage for a stem cell transplant using cord blood, should the child or immediate family require it. Called MediCord, the exclusive policy will give CordLife customers the option of selecting insurance coverage at the point of signing up for cord blood collection, processing and storage.

Cygenics is in the process of building a full umbilical cord blood tissue and storage facility in the city through CordLife which collects, processes and stores adult stem cells, that may later become a life saving resource in the future.

The city facility of CordLife will enable parents to preserve the cord blood of their newborns for a fee of Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000, plus an annual processing charge 15 per cent of that amount.

The Insurance has two policies in the front Plan A and Plan B. The former, which costs Singapore $100 (approximatly Rs 2,700) a year will provide for hospitals, surgical and transplant costs associated with stem cell transplants, subject to a cap of $1000,000. The latter stalked at S$50 a year, for a coverage of S$50,000. These healthcare schemes and other insurance policies can defray part of the cost of such transplant.

As more treatments are discovered and cord blood becomes more widely available, with MediCord becoming first ever policy to directly address and meet this growing need, the number of stem cell transplants using cord blood is expected to rise in the years ahead, according to CordLife officials.

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