Stem cell storage divides

The controversial business of stem cell banking came under the spotlight again yesterday with the opening of a new storage and processing laboratory in Cape Town.

There are now two storage facilities in the country.

Cryo-Save, which operates in South Africa but stores stem cells in Belgium, and Lazaron, the first stem cell bank in the country, entered into a joint venture to open the laboratory in Cape Town.

Netcells Cryogenics operates a laboratory in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.

At the new bank, clients can store stem cells - derived from umbilical cord blood and tissue - locally or in Belgium, where Cryo-Save has a facility.

Stem cells are currently used in the treatment of several blood-related diseases such as leukaemia.

Cryo-Save CEO Arnoud van Tulder said clinical trials using stem cells in the treatment of diseases such as diabetes and cerebral palsy were under way.

Terence Gregory, CEO of John Daniel Holdings, of which Lazaron is a subsidiary, said that although the technology was fairly new, the practice of stem cell banking was growing in South Africa.

But Professor Nicolas Novitzky, head of the division of haematology at the University of Cape Town and chairman of the South African Stem Cell Transplantation Society, said he did not believe the new facility would benefit society.

"The two times that we could have used locally banked cord blood samples for patients who needed transplantation, they were of sub-optimal quality and thus not used," said Novitzky.

"South Africa needs a public cord bank that is available to all, particularly those under-represented in world registries, which are those belonging to the indigenous populations of Africa."

A feasibility study for a public bank is being conducted at the University of Pretoria.

Professor Michael Pepper, who is overseeing the study, said: "Umbilical cord blood stem cells are becoming an increasingly utilised source of stem cells for bone marrow transplantation.

"These cells, which would otherwise have been discarded with the placenta after birth, have become a major focus of stem cell research in the last few years."

He said South Africa is operating in a "regulatory vacuum" because legislation on stem cell storage, research and use is yet to be finalised.

Gregory said: "We do not try and sell miracle therapies. We try and keep it as straightforward and factual as possible .

"It is proven therapy and the applications of the therapy are expanding daily, and therefore the future is incredibly bright in terms of stem cell therapy."