1. The prolific partnership of CCT and LifebankUSA:
its functions, progress, and goals

2. LifebankUSA is a subsidiary of Celgene Cellular Therapeutics and a biomedical technology and
service company specializing in the field of human stem cell storage and therapies. It is a blood banking facility
located in Cedar Knolls New Jersey. Adopted by Celgene in 2003, LifebankUSA, in partenership with CCT, has
already helped make huge strides in the field of cancer treatments, hematogical correction, and many other
debilitating diseases including autoimmune, vascular and neurodegenerative disorders. In short, Lifebank stores
stem cells/blood from very early stages of human development to later be used to remedy illnesses later on in life.
CCT does the heavy lifting by providing the research and procedures needed. Lifebank and CCT work together to
treat patients through in-vitro modification followed by transplantation which leads to natural cell specialization
and growth. With this process, CCT can do anything from regrow skin from serious burns to curing leukemia.
Today, Lifebank and CCT can use the banked blood to treat up to 80 different diseases.1
Now let’s look at Lifebank
as a business and further examine the process of blood banking from all aspects.
CONTENTS
1. History of LifebankUSA
2. Lifebank as a modern business
3. The Process of blood banking
4. The Issues
5. The future of Lifebank
6. Works Cited
1.
The idea of stem cell transplantation began at the turn of the twentieth century when scientists
began to hypothesize that just a small number of cells in marrow might lead to the development of all blood cells.
Fast forward almost a century and you have LifebankUSA. The company was founded in 1998 by Dr. Robert Joseph
Hariri, who now serves as CEO of Lifebank and CCT. At the time, Dr. Hariri aimed to access the invaluable powers
of human stem cells. Today the company he started is the only one that collects and stores cells from both sources
and has the highest success rate in the industry.
2.
At the moment, Lifebank is working with [how many people?] and [how much blood?] As a
glimpse of the industry as a whole, there were about 17,300 stem cells transplants of many variations across North
America in 2010. Lifebank alliances include, of course Celgene, as well as: [??] Leukemia and Lymphoma society?
(LLS) Business Dev? Technology used? Personnel?
Alliances: Alliqua, Bluebirdbio, tengion, Baylor College of Medicine
3.
1 http://www.lifebankusa.com/cord-placenta-blood-overview/the-value-of-stem-cells/

3. The Procedure of blood banking is extremely complicated as there are many variables and
types of transplantations. Peripheral blood is most common source of stem cells used for transplants because it
can be taken at any age but placenta and cord blood is more efficient because it accesses the stem cells at an
earlier stage of development and makes for a smoother transplant. Cord and placenta blood can more easily adapt
to a patient who may not be an exact match to the donor.
It also carries a decreased risk of GVHD (graft vs host
disease) which is when the donated cells begin attacking
the patients’ tissues. BUT: there are less stem cells in
cord blood.
Process for peripheral blood extraction:
The patient is examined for pre-existing maladies, after
considered a good candidate the donor must produce
enough of the type of blood for extraction and use (drugs
are
usually
used to
boost white blood cell production). This is known as blood
mobilization. When the patient is ready a doctor extracts blood
through a process called Apheresis where blood is taken from a
patients vein (typically a needle in the arm) and then separated
into four parts: red cells, plasma, white cells, and platelets. The
white cells are collected because it contains the stem cells. The
remaining blood is returned into the patient’s body. Sometimes
this process is done twice to collect enough stem cells and in some
rare cases more than twice.
Process for marrow extraction: first an initial x ray and blood test is performed to examine the bone of the
donor to assure that the blood cell counts are normal and not diseased. The doctor injects the patient with
anesthesia and uses a special needle to extract marrow from the edge of the pelvic bone. The doctor collects
several pints of marrow. The marrow is filtered to remove fragments of bone or tissue and then injected into the
patient usually within less than 24 hours
Autologous transplant

4. Process for placenta and cord blood extraction: the doctor simply extracts blood after the baby is removed
from the mother. The blood is tested to determine type and any abnormalities. If there are too little blood-forming
cells the blood is used for research or discarded.
Bone marrow stem
cell mobilization
Cord blood banking
made simple

5. Processes for transplantation: marrow or peripheral blood can be transplanted in three different ways:
Autologous, Standard Allogeneic, and Reduced-Intensity Allogeneic. With an allogeneic transplant, the patient
receives marrow or peripheral blood
stem cells from a donor typically a
sibling, but sometimes someone
unrelated. An autologous transplant is
where some of the patient's own bone
marrow or peripheral blood stem cells
are removed, treated and then injected
back into the patient. Reduced intensity
Allogeneic is normally used for older
patients who may not be able to
tolerate high levels of chemotherapy
treatment and radiation. This type of
process is slower but obviously less
intense.
Variables of the transplant are numerous:
Where to transplant the blood
When to transplant the blood
The type of disease to be treated (if known)
The source of the blood from specific organs and specific people
The intensity of the treatment
The type of transplantation
Patient qualities such as: age, medical condition, type of blood, weight
The amount of blood taken
The selection of blood, which is further examined and filtered
Post-transplantation: the patient usually leaves in 3-5 weeks depending on blood development and severity of
complications (vomiting, fever, sores, and appetite) in general autologous transplantation requires less of a recovery
period than allogeneic. It takes 6-12 months to recover to near normal blood cell levels and immune function of a
patient who receives an allogeneic transplant.
4.
The problem with a ground breaking new industry is that it is always changing and expanding. The stem cell labs
from just a half decade ago are already outdated and in need of adaptation to today’s new breakthroughs in
regenerative biology. To continue leading the pack, LifebankUSA must overcome many new issues :
- StemLabs were designed to handle one product and must undergo a major overhaul to allow for new
procedures.
- The lab software is subject to sporadic reporting capability issues
- Products must be adjusted for new bar coding standards

6. - The tracking capability of products is heavily flawed2
5.
The future of stem cell blood banking is bright. CCT and LifebankUSA plan to vastly expand
business and treatment options in the next decade. The relatively new science of regenerative medicine is
developing to find new uses for stem cells. It is hypothesized that regenerative medicine may one day make
available life changing treatments for diseases like type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy,
muscular dystrophy, stroke, and many others. Business strategies for the future include:
 Biovance Manufacturing – relevant?
 Salesfore.com infrastructure - CC
 Launch of dental pulp manufacturing
 AR collection program
6.
Citations
http://wn.com/lifebankusa
www.lifebankusa.com
https://www.celgene.com/research-development/rd-locations/celgene-cellular-therapeutics/cell-therapy/
http://www.umgcc.org/blood_marrow_program/allogeneic_transplant.htm
http://www.racebending.com/v4/featured/170-7-bone-marrow-cyberdrive-memory-janet-liang/ picture
http://stemcellthailand.org/hematopoietic-cell-transplant/ picture
http://www.disability-claims.net/bone_marrow_transplantation_disability.html picture
2 Big data sheet with pictures and diagrams in Warren E-124