This article explores what you need to know about cord blood market growth rates, including accurate versus inaccurate sources of market size and growth rate data. A key question among industry executives is, how do we establish an accurate growth rate for the cord blood market? First, revenue data within the global cord blood market is largely limited to companies listed on public stock exchanges. As such, the revenue figures from China Cord Blood Corporation, itself a public company, and Cord Blood America, Inc., which wholly owns CorCell, are valuable. In addition, ViaCord is owned by the public healthcare company Perkin Elmer, and LifeBank USA is owned by the public biomedical company Celgene, so high-level revenue data is available through these parent companies. Second, for the very small number of private cord blood storage operators that are disclosing revenue metrics, such as Americord that is aiming for the Inc. 500's list of fastest growing companies, these companies tend to have small market share relative to the total global market. Consequently, there is not evidence to substantiate an industry-wide growth rate anywhere near 33.5% CAGR based on these contributions. Individually, Americord has reported rapid levels of growth (2,200% for 2011 to 2013), but the company is not yet a dominant industry player, having collected only approximately 35,000 cord blood and cord tissue units to date, as compared to 500,000+ for the market leader, Cord Blood Registry. As such, Americord will be a very interestingly company to watch over the next few years, but it cannot yet be heavily weighted in a global market analysis for the cord blood industry. Furthermore, when assessing market size and growth rates for the global cord blood industry, it is essential to recognize that the market is dominated by a few industry behemoths. While most industries worldwide are dominated by a few large industry players, this is particularly true for the global cord blood industry. Key market leaders within this market include: • Cord Blood Registry (USA): 500,000+ cord blood and tissue units • ViaCord (USA): 350,000 cord blood and tissue units • China Cord Blood Corporation (China): 312,000 cord blood and tissue units • Cryo-Save (Europe): 268,000 cord blood and tissue units • Cryo-Cell (USA): 240,000 cord blood and tissue units [READ MORE...]

1. BioInformant Worldwide, LLC - Your Global Leader in Stem Cell Industry Data
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
CORD BLOOD MARKET GROWTH RATES
November 15, 2014
BioInformant Worldwide, LLC
Recently, I've seen posts on LinkedIn and the web for a cord blood market report titled "Global Cord
Blood Banking Services (Stem Cell) Market, Size, Share, Trends, Forecast, Global Analysis,
Research, Report, Segmentation, and Future Demand, 2012 - 2020."
I rarely reflect on products by other companies, but this report is disturbing in that it is
painfully inaccurate.
As global business expert Joe Polish likes to say, "The most expensive information is bad
information," and this is a case of that situation. In the Executive Summary, which highlights the
main findings from the report, Allied Market Research states that the "Cord blood market is
expected to grow at 33.5% CAGR from 2012-2020."
Having been a student of the cord blood industry for almost a decade, possessing nearly 10-years of
historical information about it, and having recently attended the the World Cord Blood Congress in
Boston, MA, on September 16-17th, 2014, I respectfully have to disagree with the findings of this
report.
The World Cord Blood Congress is the largest commercial cord blood banking and therapy
conference in North America, an event that brings together stakeholders from across the cord blood
market. At this event, market leaders shared their perspective on opportunities and threats within the
industry, presented collection rate and utilization rate data, and in some cases, shared revenue data.
Presenters included executives from China Cord Blood Corporation, Cleveland Cord Blood Center,
CordVida Brazil, Cryo-Save Group, and more.
How Can We Get a More Accurate Growth Rate for the Cord Blood Industry?
For the limited number of publicly-listed cord blood storage operators that report their revenues,
their growth rates do not project a rate of growth anywhere near 33.5% CAGR.
Therefore, the question becomes, how do we establish a more accurate growth rate for the cord
blood industry?
First, revenue data within the global cord blood market is largely limited to companies listed on
public stock exchanges. As such, the revenue figures from China Cord Blood Corporation, itself a
public company, and Cord Blood America, Inc., which wholly owns CorCell, are valuable. In
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BioInformant Worldwide, LLC | www.BioInformant.com | U.S. (703) 859-7617; Int’l (00-1) 703-859-7617

2. BioInformant Worldwide, LLC - Your Global Leader in Stem Cell Industry Data
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
addition, ViaCord is owned by the public healthcare company Perkin Elmer, and LifeBank USA is
owned by the public biomedical company Celgene, so high-level revenue data is available through
these parent companies.
Second, for the very small number of private cord blood storage operators that are disclosing
revenue metrics, such as Americord that is aiming for the Inc. 500's list of fastest growing
companies, these companies tend to have small market share relative to the total global market.
Consequently, there is not evidence to substantiate an industry-wide growth rate anywhere near
33.5% CAGR based on these contributions.
Individually, Americord has reported rapid levels of growth (2,200% for 2011 to 2013), but the
company is not yet a dominant industry player, having collected only approximately 35,000 cord
blood and cord tissue units to date, as compared to 500,000+ for the market leader, Cord Blood
Registry. As such, Americord will be a very interestingly company to watch over the next few years,
but it cannot yet be heavily weighted in a global market analysis for the cord blood industry.
When assessing market size and growth rates for the global cord blood industry, it is essential
to recognize that the market is dominated by a few industry behemoths.
While most industries worldwide are dominated by a few large industry players, this is particularly
true for the global cord blood industry. Key market leaders within this market include:
• Cord Blood Registry (USA): 500,000+ cord blood and tissue units
• ViaCord (USA): 350,000 cord blood and tissue units
• China Cord Blood Corporation (China): 312,000 cord blood and tissue units
• Cryo-Save (Europe): 268,000 cord blood and tissue units
• Cryo-Cell (USA): 240,000 cord blood and tissue units
Even More Evidence That Growth Rates are Lower Than 33.5% CAGR
Finally, no matter what other metrics you consider, from cord blood scientific publication rates, to
grant funding rates, to clinical trials rates, the annual growth rate for the cord blood market cannot
be projected anywhere near 33.5%.
Even China Cord Blood Corporation, a publicly listed cord blood storage operator (stock ticker: CO)
and one of the fastest growing cord blood banks in the world, is reporting revenues lower than
33.5% CAGR, according to the CEO of the company, Mr. Chen, who recently presented revenue
data for China Cord Blood Corporation at the World Cord Blood Congress in Boston, MA, on
September 17th, 2014.
For those seeking substantiated cord blood industry metrics, you should expect data that can
be verified by third-party analysis.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BioInformant Worldwide, LLC | www.BioInformant.com | U.S. (703) 859-7617; Int’l (00-1) 703-859-7617

3. BioInformant Worldwide, LLC - Your Global Leader in Stem Cell Industry Data
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is included, but not limited to the following:
• Publicly stated revenue metrics for cord blood banks worldwide (many cord blood storage
operators are private companies, but there is limited public revenue data available)
• Cord blood storage rates
• Cord blood transplant rates
• Cord blood scientific publication rates
• Cord blood grant rates
• Cord blood clinical trial rates
• Cord blood patent rates
As a resource that you may want to consider, BioInformant recently released the global strategic
report, "Complete 2015-16 Global Cord Blood Banking Industry Report," on November 7, 2014. It
is based on BioInformant's real-time monitoring of the global cord blood marketplace, including
cord blood databases that have been continuously updated for nearly a decade. All sources are
verifiable by third-party analysis.
Marketplace Summary
In summary, the global cord blood industry is a complex marketplace, dominated by key industry
leaders. Understanding market dynamics for the largest industry players significantly helps with
understanding the global marketplace. Additionally, the cord blood industry has matured
substantially over the past few years, creating a larger, slower growing industry dynamic, where it is
anticipated the consolidation and elimination will occur.
There is still substantial opportunity within the marketplace, with companies like China Cord Blood
Corporation having a high gross margin, low debt to assets ratio, and healthy free cash flow, but it is
expected that these industry leaders will continue to differentiate themselves and achieve market
dominance over the next five years.
Additional Reading (Recent News):
1. Cord Blood America Announces 2014 Third Quarter Financial Results (Nov 14, 2014)
2. CordLife in the Red in Q1 Due to Fair Value Loss on Investment (Nov 14, 2014)
3. China Cord Blood Corporation to Report First Quarter of Fiscal 2015 Financial Results (Aug
21, 2014)
Suggested Cord Blood Market Intelligence:
Complete 2015-16 Global Cord Blood Banking Industry Report (Released Nov 7, 2014)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BioInformant Worldwide, LLC | www.BioInformant.com | U.S. (703) 859-7617; Int’l (00-1) 703-859-7617