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Future Shocked

Cell banking—only a good ‘business’ idea?

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Future Shocked
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Putting profit way ahead of science, private banking (or long-term storage) of new stem-cell sources has taken off even before older stem-cell-based regenerative therapies are indisputably established. At least two firms (Stemade and Dhruv Polyclinic, both Mumbai-based) have in the last few months launched banking services for milk teeth, dental pulp from which can provide stem cells. Chennai-based Lifecell, on the other hand, is soon expected to launch its menstrual blood banking facility. These developments come at a time when the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) still considers all stem-cell-related therapies—except bone marrow transplants, and that for certain accepted indications—as “experimental”.

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Mayur Abhaya, CEO of Lifecell, agrees that the science is still evolving. “Stem cells derived from menstrual blood are being tested on a range of disorders like arthritis, diabetes, heart failure, spinal cord injuries and Parkinson’s, but right now they cannot cure a disease. The science isn’t established yet,” he says.

It is this critical uncertainty that gets neatly obfuscated in the slick promos featuring actor Hrithik Roshan and attractive packages that sell a “monthly miracle” with  “high potential” and “promise” to treat many serious ailments. Lifecell hopes to have some 3,000 customers for its menstrual-blood banking service within a year. Its cord-blood banking service already has 30,000 customers. Likewise, Dhruv Polyclinic sells its scheme for storing stem cells from dental pulp as the ‘ultimate protection’, while Stemade offers the “potential to shield from critical health concerns”.

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The Delhi-based Stem Cell Global Foundation expects India’s stem-cell banking business to grow at 35 per cent over the next year to touch Rs 140 crore. It costs about Rs 50,000 at minimum for the cells to be isolated and stored for some 20 years—and there’s no guarantee, or refund, if they fail to work. Abhaya’s logic: “There’ll just be financial loss. As it is, there are so many women who have annual gym subscriptions they never use. If the therapy is ever developed, at least you have the option of using it.”

Against that spiel, customers must weigh what V.M. Katoch, the director-general of ICMR, has to say. In an e-mail, he denied knowledge of banks storing any stem-cell source other than umbilical cord blood. Asked if banks storing menstrual blood and dental pulp were selling hope based on unestablished science, he says, “If it is so, then yes.” Technically, these two firms do not have storage facilities in India. Dhruv Polyclinic sends the pulp to its US facility; Stemade borrows Lifecell’s facility in Chennai.

Katoch also says banks in India have to be authorised by the Drug Controller General of India and any new stem cell therapy will have to undergo trials after due approval. ICMR has already announced the creation of the National Apex Committee for Stem Cell Research and Therapy (NAC-SCRT) to serve as a registry of all trials of newer stem cell therapies.

But the chances of one needing stem cell therapy are slim. The American Academy of Pediatrics says there is only a “small chance”—one in 1,000 to one in 200,000—that a child without any known disease risk might ever need cord blood from a bank. Moreover, scientific leaps could make banking redundant: any cell may one day be used to regenerate any kind of tissue. “These banks must take informed consent from families, let them know the present status of the unproven technology and not make false promises,” says Katoch. Think carefully then, before banking part of you.

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