SINGAPORE’S Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued a new notice to beleaguered private cord blood bank Cordlife : P8A 0%, barring them from collecting new cord blood and human tissue for up to an additional three months, the company said on Tuesday (May 28).
The notice, issued on May 27, will take effect from Jun 15 unless the director-general of health approves it sooner, pending written representations from Cordlife to MOH. Cordlife said in a bourse filing that it does not plan to submit such written representations and will inform the health ministry accordingly.
The first notice was issued on Nov 30, 2023, after an MOH check found seven of the company’s 22 cord-blood storage tanks being kept at temperatures above acceptable limits.
MOH had conducted further inspections in April and May 2024, and determined that Cordlife had yet to complete the validation of its AXP II System for cord blood processing.
The company also did not complete the development of the relevant operating procedures and practices for said system, as well as the training and competency assessment of the staff using it.
Cordlife said it will work to expedite potency testing, in addition to other rectification efforts. It will also update MOH on its progress to fulfil all requirements and receive approval to resume operations as soon as possible.
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The company also announced that it applied on May 15 to discontinue licenses related to services involving haematopoietic stem cells and its clinical laboratory services.
Cordlife will stop providing services related to haematopoietic stem cells, including bone marrow, under its human tissue banking service. It plans to focus only on the banking of ocular tissue, specifically the corneal lenticule.
It does not expect the discontinuation of this licence to significantly impact its Singapore operations, as peripheral blood stem cell banking services did not account for a major portion of its services.
The same can be said for its clinical laboratory service license, as the company has not been providing any services that require the license. The discontinuation is effective from May 20.
Shares of Cordlife last traded at S$0.153 on May 24.
