Counting on growing no of babies, Cordlife sees opportunities here

Burgeoning middle class with growing aspirations and awareness for pre-emptive healthcare, Cordlife Group of India is now literally coming out of mother's womb.

The Singapore Stock Exchange listed operator of Asia Pacific's largest network of umbilical cord and stem cell banks is yet to take off in a big way in India since it started operations in 2009.

But things are set to change now, as after a prolonged period of educating authorities as well as public about the need to preserve cord blood and tissues for future healthcare need, Cordlife is now gearing up for expanding its customer base.

"We are bullish about India, Philippines and Indonesia. With Narendra Modi taking over, we expect economic environment to change. All these countries have high young population with burgeoning middle class, which you can't change. In India we have witnessed growth of 50% by volume and about 80% in value terms last year," Jeremy Yee, group CEO of Cordlife told dna.

A Deloitte Report says the 2007–2011 CAGR of annual incremental storage units for private cord blood banks were at 38% for Indonesia and 35% for Philippines and India, respectively. Now, a new study is coming up and Yee expects the projected figure to rise faster.

The downside of bringing something new, particularly in healthcare, means one need to invest in education and awareness and keep patience.

""We are here in India since 2006 but got our licence in 2009. It took us three years to get our licences after making the Indian authorities understand what we intend to do and what are the acceptable global quality standards for the service we provide," Yee said during his visit to Cordlife's India facility based in Kolkata.

In India, Cordlife has invested close to Singapore $10-15 million (up to Rs 72 crore) and owns 85% of Cordlife Sciences (India) Pvt Ltd that operates a facility which can cryogenically store up to 150,000 cord blood units.

With storage charges beginning from Rs 40,000 and touching up to about Rs 75,000 for a 21 year period, a price which Yee compares with cost of a iPhone, the upside is the opportunities that he is staring at.

In US, currently there are about 600 clinical trials registered under Food and Drug Administration happening using stem cell. "And with 26 million babies being born in India every year, we are here for good," Yee said.