Cord Blood Registry Maintains Strong Growth in Weak Economy

Increasing Use of a Child's Own Cord Blood in Regenerative Medicine Studies Driving Awareness and Growth in Family Banking Market

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - November 3, 2008 - Cord Blood Registry (CBR), the global leader in umbilical cord blood banking, announced today that the company achieved a record number of client enrollments for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, achieving a 33 percent increase year-over-year. Revenue increased 36 percent and net income increased 118 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

"Our growth has come in part from an increase in market share, but we’re also seeing a growing market,' said Tom Moore, chief executive officer of CBR. "I think there is broader awareness that the medical research community is increasingly excited about the therapeutic potential of using a child's own cord blood stem cells in a wide range of regenerative medicine therapies for conditions that have no cure today. This represents a significant increase in the value of cord blood stem cells and their use by our clients."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regenerative medicine is the next evolution of medical treatments that focuses on using the body’s own stem cells to cure failing, impaired or injured tissues. This revolutionary approach to medicine has the potential to develop therapies for previously untreatable diseases and conditions, including cerebral palsy, brain damage from accidents, stroke, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, heart disease, and renal failure.

"This is no longer a discussion about the future, it's now," said Moore. "CBR is playing the leading role in helping connect researchers with children who have a condition or injury that's being studied as well as access to their own cord blood stem cells. This is only made possible because their parents made the decision to bank their baby’s stem cells with us at birth even though there was no indication of need."

Cord Blood Registry Maintains Robust Business
In addition to an ongoing trial for type 1 diabetes, expanded trials for cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injury are expected to be enrolling patients shortly. Clinical studies for infant stroke, hearing loss and spinal cord injuries are expected to launch next year.

CBR Sees More Family Members Contributing to Family Banking
The company also reports that its programs designed to help expectant parents manage the expense of family banking have contributed to increased enrollments. In the third quarter, enrollments that had at least one or more “third-parties” contributing to the cost of cord blood banking increased at an annualized rate of 46 percent. In most cases, these are the grandparents-to-be or other relatives of the newborn. Friends and co-workers are also offering to contribute to banking the baby’s cord blood as a gift.

"The fact that we’re seeing clients receive support from family and friends points to the increasing awareness of the value of banking a baby’s cord blood," said Moore. "Especially at a time when the economy is tight, we are pleased to see that parents are continuing to invest in cord blood banking and making this important health resource available to their children."

About Cord Blood Registry
Cord Blood Registry® (CBR®) is the world's largest and most experienced stem cell bank. The company founded the CBR Center for Regenerative Medicine^SM to support and advance medical research in regenerative treatments and help to link client families with clinical researchers with trials currently in place or on the horizon. CBR has consistently led the industry in technical innovations and safeguards more than 400,000 cord blood and cord tissue collections for individuals and their families. The company was the first family bank accredited by AABB and the company's quality standards have been recognized through ISO 9001:2008 certification—the global business standard for quality. CBR also has released more client cord blood units for specific therapeutic use than any other family cord blood bank. For more information, visit www.cordblood.com.