Kolkata, Oct 4 (IANS): Covering new grounds in stem cell processing from cord blood, India's leading stem cell bank has extended its storage facilities to 25 years for long-term benefits to clients, its top official said.

The standard industry practice is to store the cells for a span of 18 years, but Cordlife India has become the first such healthcare establishment to lengthen the tenure to 25 years.

Cord blood - blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta following the birth of a baby - is a rich source of type of stem cells that gives rise to other blood cells and regenerates immune cells.

The cells can be applied therapeutically to cancer patients, post chemotherapy and radiotherapy - that leads to a deficit in the number of crucial blood cells. An infusion of stem cells can reconstitute the destroyed blood cells.

Other areas include spinal cord injuries and heart attacks.

Cordlife has also upgraded their cord blood processing technology that culls the necessary stem cells from the cord blood milieu.

The bank has scaled up the first generation Sepax device to the Sepax 2 model. The state-of-the art equipment is recognised globally and has numerous advantages over its predecessor.

"The system is one of the most efficient and consistent platforms that can recover as much as 99.46 percent of cells from a cord blood unit and provides exceptional post-thaw cell viability count. This is a critical factor in ensuring a successful stem cell transplant," said CordLife managing director Meghnath Roy Chowdhury.

Besides, it reduces risk of cross-contamination and sample mix-up.

"As a leading healthcare company in Asia, we are committed to delivering the highest of quality standards in our service and product offerings. We firmly believe that our upgrade to Sepax 2 will help provide our clients with world-class quality cord blood stem cells in the event when a transplant becomes necessary," he added.

CordLife is the country's only stem cell bank where the advanced technology is available.