AS USES OF STEM CELL THERAPIES RISE, AMERICORD REGISTRY TAKES A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO MAXIMIZING STEM CELL HARVEST FROM NEWBORNS

Americord, the Only Cord Blood Bank Offering Cord Blood, Cord Tissue, and Placental Tissue Banking Expects To Launch A Revolutionary New Harvesting Technology

New York, NY - In a recent interview with Fox News, Americord Registry CEO Martin Smithmyer spoke about the limitations of stem cell therapies, namely that the amount of stem cells that can currently be harvested from a newborn is only sufficient to treat a child of up to about 10 years of age. This limitation is something that Americord is working hard to change in the near future.

Like all of the leading cord blood banks, Americord offers parents-to-be the ability to harvest their newborn's stem cells from the cord blood found in the umbilical cord. They are also among the few able to harvest stem cells from the tissue of the umbilical cord. Americord also offers the ability to collect additional stem cells from placental tissue.

Americord expects to set itself apart from its competitors even more significantly with a revolutionary – and proprietary – new service that will dramatically increase the amount of stem cells that can be harvested from a newborn. This new service, called CordAdvantage, will enable parents to preserve enough stem cells to treat an adult. This represents a major advance, since over 95 percent of all cord blood collections stored by CBR and ViaCord contain an insufficient number of stem cells to successfully treat an adult.

"As the medical community continues to make significant progress in developing new medical therapies that use stem cells, it is absolutely critical that those of us in the cord blood banking industry find new and better ways to harvest more stem cells," said Mr. Smithmyer. "Stem cells have already been used to treat over 80 serious diseases and have the potential to revolutionize how doctors fight cancer, brain injuries, diabetes, and spinal cord injuries, among many other diseases and conditions. Many of these conditions affect adults, and in order to successfully treat adults, doctors need a much larger volume of stem cells than can currently be harvested from a newborn."

CordAdvantage is being developed by Americord Registry under the guidance of its Executive Medical Director, Dr. Robert Dracker. Dr. Dracker is one of the world's foremost cord blood banking experts, a pediatrician, hematologist, and transfusion medicine specialist. In 2011, he was named as a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration's Pediatric Advisory Committee, which, among other responsibilities, makes recommendations to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs regarding research priorities.

About Americord Registry

Americord Registry is a leader in the advancement of cord blood, cord tissue and placenta tissue banking. Americord collects, processes, and stores newborn stem cells from umbilical cord blood for future medical or therapeutic use, including the treatment of more than 80 blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia and leukemia. Founded in 2008, Americord is registered with the FDA and operates in all 50 states. The company's laboratories are CLIA Certified, accredited by the AABB and comply with all federal and state guidelines and applicable licenses. Americord is headquartered in New York, NY. You may visit Americord Registry's website at www.cordadvantage.com for more information. You may also find Americord Registry on Facebook and follow the company on Twitter.