Worldwide survey on key indicators for public cord blood banking technologies: By the World Marrow DonorAssociation Cord Blood Working Group

The Cord Blood Working Group of the World Marrow Donor Association created a
survey for cord blood banks (CBBs) aimed to identify and understand the main technical
procedures currently used by public CBBs worldwide regarding cord blood units
(CBUs) available for unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These technical
procedures include CBU collection, (pre-) processing, packaging, testing, storage
and transport. The survey was an online survey created with SurveyGizmo and was
completed individually by each CBB at the end of 2017. The information is valuable
to transplant centers, CBBs as well as the global industry of public cord blood banking.
In general, we can conclude from this survey that the majority of CBBs are up to
standard in terms of CBB technologies. Areas of improvement include accreditation,
increase standardization in testing and setting of total nucleated cells thresholds for
acceptance a CBU for public use. Furthermore, there is a need for a consensus in the
way CBBs operate in term of reservation and release to facilitate a more straightforward
access to the therapy.