| Friday, November 3, 2006 |
CONTACT:
HRSA PRESS OFFICE
301-443-3376 |
HRSA Awards $12 Million to Collect, Maintain
Cord Blood Units for National Inventory
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently awarded funds
totaling $12 million to the first group of umbilical cord blood banks
to begin collections for the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI).
The NCBI will collect and maintain high-quality cord blood units and
make them available for transplantation through the newly created C.W.
Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, whose four major components
were awarded contracts announced recently (see news release: HRSA Awards $50 Million to Improve and Promote Transplantation).
“These awards will help to build and maintain a collection of
cord blood which could provide lifesaving stem cells to individuals
who need them for transplantation,” said HRSA Administrator Betty
Duke. “This first year’s collections should help add 10,500
new units of cord blood to the National Cord Blood Inventory.”
The statutory target for the National Cord Blood Inventory is 150,000
new units of high quality cord blood collected from diverse populations,
including minority populations, which historically have been the least
able to find a suitable matched adult bone marrow donor. The demographics
of these initial cord blood collections will be as follows: 19% African-American;
26% Hispanic; 6.5% Asian; 37.5% Caucasian; 10% Multi-Race; 1% Other
Minorities.
Bone marrow and blood-forming cells collected from blood (called Peripheral
Blood Stem Cell or PBSC) have historically been the primary sources
of blood stem cells for patients in need of transplantation to treat
various life-threatening disorders such as leukemia. Recently, umbilical
cord blood has been shown to contain a high concentration of blood stem
cells and thus may offer an additional vital resource for individuals
needing life-saving transplantation.
Research indicates that blood stem cells from cord blood may result
in successful transplants with a less perfect match in tissue type between
the donor and recipient than is needed with adult donors.
Transplants of bone marrow, PBSC, or umbilical cord blood can save the
lives of many patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases
by replacing a patient's diseased blood cells with healthy cells from
a volunteer donor. For more information, see ABCs of Marrow or Blood Cell Donation (not a U.S. Government Web site).
HRSA plans a second cycle of competitive contracts to increase the National
Cord Blood Inventory early in FY 2007.
2006 C.W. Bill Young Cell
Transplantation Program National Cord Blood Inventory Contracts |
| Institution |
City |
State |
Award |
| M.D. Anderson Cord Blood Bank |
Houston |
Texas |
$3,001,248 |
| The Carolinas Cord Blood Bank at Duke University Medical Center
|
Durham |
North Carolina |
3,000,126 |
| The Milstein National Cord Blood Program at the New York Blood
Center |
New York |
New York |
3,000,050 |
| StemCyte, Inc. |
Arcadia |
California |
1,499,152 |
| The University of Colorado Cord Blood Bank |
Aurora |
Colorado |
1,000,195 |
| The Puget Sound Blood Center |
Seattle |
Washington |
500,000 |
| TOTAL: |
|
|
$12,000,771 |
|
