“Geocord” was founded in 2006 on the basis of a Georgian-German specialized oncology clinic, after our clinic received a grant from the Tbilisi City Hall to collect umbilical cord blood from families of oncohematology patients.
Following the successful completion of the program, in January 2007 “Geocord” began the commercial storage of umbilical cord blood
At Geocord, we understand that your family’s health and future are of utmost importance. That’s why we offer high-quality and safe umbilical cord blood collection services, which may one day serve as a foundation for saving a life.
Cord blood, obtained from a newborn’s umbilical cord, contains powerful stem cells that are used to treat various medical conditions.
What diseases are the blood stem cells used to treat today?
To date, evidence-based medicine has recognized umbilical blood as an effective treatment for many diseases. Among them, it is worth noting the following conditions:
- Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Leukemias, Lymphomas, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, and Aplastic Anemias
- Transplantation in case of primary immunodeficiencies (acute combined immunodeficiency, Wiscott-Oldrich syndrome, chronic granulomatous disease)
- Transplantation in several congenital metabolic disorders (type I mucopolysaccharidosis, Krabbe’s disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy)
- Thalassemias and sickle anemia
- Genital cell tumors (ovarian and testicular cancers)
- Autoimmune diseases (intensive studies are underway in cases of multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases)
Tens of thousands of UCB transplants have already been performed worldwide in more than 70 different cases of specific diseases.
Who else can use the stored umbilical blood besides my newborn?
The match of donor and recipient histological (HLA) compatibility systems is essential for successful stem cell transplantation. For a newborn, one’s umbilical cord blood is perfectly compatible. The probability of compatibility in siblings is very high at 1:4, meaning that the blood of the stored umbilical cord in 25% of cases is fully compatible with the sibling. The probability of biological compatibility of non-related individuals is very low, at 1:70000. It should be noted that the development of transplant technologies made it possible to carry out haplo-identical (i.e., 50% compatible) transplants. Thus, a parent and a semi-compatible sibling can use blood. Similarly, these technologies will make it easier to transplant even if there is a non-compatible (less than 50%) donor and recipient. Therefore, in some cases, it will be possible to use UCB for a wider circle of recipients, primarily for family members and relatives.