CORDLIFE GROUP LIMITED ALLOWED TO RESUME CORD BLOOD BANKING SERVICES WITH RESTRICTIONS

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has on 29 August 2024 issued a notice to Cordlife Group Limited (Cordlife) to allow it to resume cord blood banking services in a controlled manner. Follow-up audits by MOH showed that Cordlife has met the essential requirements to resume its provision of cord blood banking services. To safeguard the interest of its customers, Cordlife will not be allowed to collect, test, process and/or store more than 30 units of new cord blood per month, from 15 September 2024 to 13 January 2025. MOH’s notice is pending Cordlife’s written representations.

2. On 15 December 2023, MOH directed Cordlife to stop the collection, testing, processing and/or storage of any new cord blood for a period of six months. This was extended by an additional three months on 15 June 2024 for Cordlife to complete the validation of its new cord blood processing method.

3. Follow-up audits conducted by MOH on Cordlife in August 2024 have shown that Cordlife has met the essential requirements to resume its provision of cord blood banking services. For example, Cordlife has validated its new cord blood processing method, implemented a new temperature monitoring system with acceptable temperature monitoring practices, and streamlined its incident tracking and escalation workflow. 

4. Nevertheless, MOH has asked that Cordlife adopt a carefully calibrated approach to gradually ramp up the provision of its services to ensure the welfare of its customers. This is also considering that Cordlife has undergone significant changes in its governance, manpower and processes.

5. MOH will continue to closely monitor Cordlife’s operational stability, staff capabilities and continued compliance with our regulatory requirements, including prior to its next licence renewal on 13 January 2025.