CyGenics to open cord blood bank in India

Singapore-based, ASX-listed cell therapy company CyGenics (ASX:CYN) is the majority shareholder in a new Indian cord blood banking company, to be called CordLife Sciences (India), after an initial investment of AUD$850,000.

"The Indian continent has always been one of the larger population based markets. Even if you take a cut off at the top tier social group in terms of the disposal income, they are still a fairly sizeable population," said CyGenics CEO Steven Fang. "India adds a significant potential increase in our revenue base in terms of what the market can offer."

CordLife Sciences (India) is an equity-partnership venture between CyGenics and Strassenburg Pharmaceuticals, an Indian pharmaceutical firm established in 1987 with GMP-certified facilities in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. Fang said he was not at liberty to disclose the specific percentage ownership held by the respective companies.

"[Strassenburg] produces some of the most recognised oncological and mother and child drugs for India, so they naturally provide us with very good access to our target market in terms of usage for our service," said Fang. "They are also an extremely well respected group of companies in India."

Later this year, CordLife Sciences (India) will open its head office in Kolkata, a city with a population of 13.2 million.

"We're looking to have the facility up and running before the middle of this year," said Fang. "The facility design has been completed and we're looking for vendors and putting things in place already."

CyGenics plans to build and operate a full cord blood tissue processing and storage facility in Kolkata, followed by regional offices in other Indian cities.

"We intend to build an AABB [American Association of Blood Banks] accredited facility. It will be the first in India and probably the only facility in the Indian continent for a long while," said Fang.

When asked why CyGenics chose Kolkata rather than Mumbai or other larger Indian cities, Fang said, "We needed a quick start and a good location to basically establish our presence."

"Kolkata is an up-and-coming city with a strong emphasis on pharmaceuticals as well as biotech," he said. "The cost of operations there is significantly lower than all the other major cities... and we needed a city that is politically stable and has strong government support to ensure that becomes a reference facility for building representative offices in different cities, servicing the whole Indian continent out of Kolkata."

The Singapore government also has a long history with Kolkata, with Singapore being ruled from Kolkata in colonial times, said Fang.

The new company was officially launched on Friday by Singapore senior minister and former prime minister Goh Chock Tong and Singapore's high commissioner to India, See Chak Mun.

The Indian facility will be the CordLife's fourth, after Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. CordLife Sciences (India) has already established relationships with leading private hospitals in the city.

After China, India is the most populous country in the world. Half of India's 1.1 billion people are under the age of 25 and the country's middle class is generally believed to exceed 250 million.