Cryo-Cell Alternatives And Competitors

As one of the other oldest and most trusted cord banks in America, Viacord has been in business for 25 years and has an excellent record of success and customer satisfaction. Viacord has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau,3 accreditation from the AABB (American Association of Blood Banks), and is FDA and CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) registered.

Viacord’s lab in Cincinnati, Ohio is equipped with the same quality freezers used by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. Viacord stands out with for its record of successful release to over 450 families, and it’s are often the first company that doctors and other healthcare professionals recommend to interested families.

In terms of cost, Viacord charges families with a processing fee of $1,725 that includes the shipping and processing of cord blood and the collection kit, and a storage fee of $175 per year.

Viacord’s Siblings Connection program will appeal to any family who has a child with a diagnosed medical condition that is treatable with sibling cord blood. With this program, your child-in-need’s eligible sibling can receive five years of free cord blood storage.

StemCyte has been in business since 1997 and currently has the most racially diverse pool of cord blood inventory. The company offers the best of both worlds: they are both a private cord bank and a public cord bank. Thus they not only offer you opportunities to store your child’s blood for future use, but also the chance to donate cord and stem blood for research.

Both AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) and FACT NetCord accredited, StemCyte has shipped over 2,200 transplants to date and operates on a worldwide scale, with shipments to over 350 countries. The company has successfully contributed to clinical trials for cerebral palsy, autism, stroke, and spinal cord injury.

Because they are both a public and private bank, StemCyte will offer a public sample free of charge if your sample doesn’t engraft, along with $50,000 in compensation and a full refund of all your fees. The company offers annual packages, 18-year storage programs or lifetime packages. There are a variety of payment plans but if paid in full at once, the price for one year of storage is $1,395.

Founded in 1994, Maze Cord Blood is accredited by AABB (American Association of Blood Banks), the FDA, CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments), and the New York State Department of Health.

The company takes a personal approach to cord blood banking as Maze Cord Blood founder, Dr. Michael A. Werner, was inspired to start the company after his son died of cancer. Dr. Werner believes cord blood might have saved his son and is on a mission to give back to others.

Maze Cord is among the most affordable cord banks out there today. It offers some of the lowest overall storage rates, making them almost half the price as compared to its competitors. The company also offers flexibility in terms of services and payment plans. You can choose between a 12-month, 24-month, 36-month, or 48-month payment plan, for example. Plans for cord blood banking start at $2,990 a year.

Maze Cord blood’s personal touch has been praised by reviewers, along with the company’s wonderful customer service and ease of use.

Founded in 1992, Cord Blood Registry (CBR) is among the oldest cord blood banks in America, with one of the most trusted reputations. CBR operates out of an 80,000 square-foot laboratory in Tuscon, Arizona and has stored more than 875,000 cord blood and tissue samples to date.

Most notable is CBR’s recovery rate of 99 percent, which is the highest published rate of all cord banks.

Recovery rates are important, because you want to pick a bank that will not only securely store your child’s cord blood, but will do so with the highest safety and preservation standards. After all, you may not use your baby’s cord blood until many years down the road.

CBR is fully accredited by the AABB (American Association of Blood Banks), and is FDA and CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) registered. CRB has several flexible payment options, with plans starting at $49 per month.

Lifebank USA was among the first banks to offer both cord blood banking and placenta banking. Placenta banking is important because placenta tissue is rich in mesenchymal-like stem cells and has the potential to be used for regenerative medicine therapy, such as organ and tissue replacement.4 Placenta stem cells are being explored for use in immune disorders, spinal cord injuries, blood cancers, and blood disorders.

Founded in 1998, Lifebank USA’s headquarters are located in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey. After your baby is born and their tissue samples are taken, Lifebank offers a courier service that will pick up your collection kit within one to two hours. Your baby’s stem cells are preserved in vapor-phase liquid-nitrogen storage tanks, with 24-hour monitoring.

Lifebank offers multiple payment plans based on which type of banking you choose⁠—options include cord blood, placental tissue, and placental stem cells/placental tissue ⁠— and provides discounts if you register more than one child. For enrollment, collection and processing, and the first year of storage, pricing begins at $1,495. When paid ahead of time for 25 years, storage fees are priced at $125 a year. Lifebank is accredited by the FDA and AABB (American Association of Blood Banks).

One of the newer cord banks, Americord has been in operation since 2008. However, their experience goes back over 20 years: their laboratory has been working with cord bank companies since 1997 and has successfully stored over 35,000 units of cord blood.

With AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) accreditation and FDA-regulated lab headquarters in New Jersey, Americord has garnered a strong reputation in its first 12 years of operation. Americord is one of the only cord banks to offer placenta cell storage along with cord blood and tissue storage.

Perhaps the most stand-out feature of Americord is its insurance policy. Most cord banks will reimburse you if your sample fails to engraft, but Americord offers the highest payback rate, at $110,000. Not only that, but the company offers generally competitive rates, no monthly storage fees, and no cancellation fees. While you can customize a plan based on your family’s needs, a one-time payment of around $5,998 will get you 20 years of storage for a single child.