We’ve got answers for you


How soon should I register with Progenics?


What should I do after registering with Progenics?
  • After you open the brown cardboard box, take out the envelope and read the “Instructions for Parents”. Keep the cord blood collection kit (either the white box or blue case) at room temperature (15° to 25° C)
    and do not freeze or overheat the kit.
  • With the exception of clients delivering at North York General Hospital, call the designated medical courier when you are admitted to the hospital so that they can have a courier on standby to pick up the cord blood.

If you forget to bring your collection kit to the hospital, please ask your nurse or physician to use an emergency kit (only if your delivery hospital is North York General Hospital or hospitals which have our emergency supplies).  For other hospitals in which emergency supplies are not available, please call the designated medical courier at 1-866-882-8865 to request that they deliver a collection kit to you if they can.  On short notice, it is not guaranteed that they will be able to ship a collection kit to you in time before you give birth and a fee could be charged. Contact us to find out if your hospital carries our Progenics Emergency kits.

Cord Blood Shipping

How will Cord Blood be shipped to Progenics and how much will shipping cost?

If your delivery hospital is located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), it is complimentary to have your baby’s cord blood picked up at the bedside.


How do I know if the Cord Blood has been received by Progenics?


Cord Blood Collection

What is Cord Blood?

After a baby is delivered, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut close to the baby’s “belly-button”. Fetal blood, also known as “cord blood”, is left in the remaining umbilical cord that is still attached to the placenta. This “left over” blood was traditionally discarded with the placenta as biomedical waste. However, scientists have discovered that cord blood is very rich in special kinds of cells called Hematopoietic (blood-forming) Stem Cells (HSCs). It also contains unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC), mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC), which are important stem cells that can differentiate into almost all types of specialized, mature cells.

What are Hemtopoietic Stem Cells (HSC)?

HSCs are multipotent cells that have the ability to replicate and differentiate into the components of the blood and immune system. Every day, HSCs produce billions of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets that are essential for our health. The three sources of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells that are routinely used for medical treatments are:

  • Bone marrow
  • Peripheral (circulating) blood
  • Umbilical cord blood
What tests will be performed to assess the suitability of my baby's Cord Blood for banking?

Suitability of a cord blood donor is assessed based on Health Canada regulatory requirements and other accredited standards. Suitability of cord blood donors is screened by our trained clinical staff. Testing for infectious disease markers in maternal blood strictly adheres to Health Canada regulations, so the cord blood stored at Progenics is safe and can be used anywhere in the world. The tests include:

  • Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)
  • Hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc)
  • Hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV)
  • Serologic test for syphilis
  • NAT for West Nile Virus (WNV)
  • Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

Cord Blood Processing

When should Cord Blood be processed after collection?

Cord blood should be processed within 43 hours after collection. However, the faster processing begins, the higher the quality of the cord blood.

Acceptable time frames between collection and processing are defined differently depending on the bank. Usually, 43 hours after collection is the limit for most cord blood banks but a shorter transit time of ≤ 24 – 36 hours before processing is preferred.

At Progenics, the average time between collection and processing is 17 hours, which could be the shortest time frame in this field. If a cord blood unit  is received after 48 hours from the time of collection, then the viability will be assessed to determine whether the cord blood is still eligible for processing and storage.

How is Cord Blood processed?

Volume reduction is often used as the routine processing depletion approach for cord blood. Cord blood volume is reduced by depleting volume of red blood cells (RBCs) and plasma to obtain a final product that contains the remaining nucleated cells which include the stem cells that will be cryopreserved and stored in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen freezers.  

What is the yield of Total Nucleated Cells?

The percentage yield of TNC indicates the processing quality for each sample and the yield of the number of TNC per milliliter represents the processing quality of a cord blood bank. Therefore, the accuracy of percentage yield must be supported by the yield per milliliter. At Progenics, the average yield (%) and the yield per milliliter are determined on all cord blood units that are banked at our facility. This distinguishes Progenics’ results from claims made by most other cord blood banks. In addition, our quality has been published in a peer-reviewed journal (Yang H et al, Transfusion (2011) 51; 284-292).

This formula can be applied to indicate processing quality regardless of processing methods! Simply put, higher yield equals higher quality. However, it should also be supported by the yield of cells per milliliter from processing.

Why is the yield of Total Nucleated Cells from processing important but not the yield of stem cells?




Absolutely not. In fact, the viability of nucleated cells after processing is slightly higher (5% higher). The following published scientific and medical articles are available for your reference on the matter:

  • (Pope B. et al Transfusion (2012)


How do I know if the Cord Blood has been successfully processed?

At Progenics, the success of processing cord blood is based on the yield of TNC, which is ≥85%.

Progenics will send you a “Certificate of Cryopreservation” which reports the processing date, volume collected, yield (recovery rate) of total nucleated cells (%) and the number of total nucleated cells.


The certificate with processing results and the quality guarantee confirms the successful processing and storage of your child’s cord blood.

How is Cord Blood cryopreserved?



Storage of Cord Blood

How is Cord Blood stored?

At Progenics, processed cord blood is stored in the vapor phase in a liquid nitrogen freezer, where the temperature is ≤-150°C.

Normally cord blood stem cells are cooled down gradually to -80°C, then transferred to a liquid nitrogen freezer for long-term storage. When cord blood is stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer, it is very stable in either the vapor phase or liquid phase. The critical temperature for storing cord blood is ≤-150°C. If a sample reaches a temperature warmer than -150°C during storage, the cord blood can be damaged by intracellular recrystallization. Therefore, it is critical that the temperature of the storage freezers be monitored 24 hours a day and that the power supply be equipped with a backup generator.  At Progenics, processed cord blood is cryopreserved using a controlled-rate freezer and is then stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer (in the vapor phase), where the temperature is continuously maintained. In addition, the storage facility and the temperature inside the freezers are monitored 24 hours daily by security, video surveillance, environmental monitoring and alarm systems. A backup liquid nitrogen freezer is available at all times in case of an emergency.

How long can Cord Blood be stored?

Cord blood stem cells have demonstrated the ability to be stored for over 20 years in liquid nitrogen and remaining viable (Broxmeyer He et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100: 645-650, Blood online March 10, 2011). Theoretically the cells can be stored in liquid nitrogen indefinitely which is effective for old-age related diseases (ex. diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc.)

How do I retrieve the Cord Blood when I need it for treatment?


Should I transfer my baby's stored Cord Blood if I move?

No, it is best to keep your stored cord blood in the same storage facility since transferring it from one bank to another poses the risk of losing the sample to a variety of potential accidents during transportation, including the risk of exposing the cord blood unit to potential warming events that may affect the TNC viability. Therefore, it is better to keep the cord blood unit at its initial storage facility and then have it transferred directly to the transplant facility when the stored cord blood is needed for treatment of a disease. The transportation will be arranged by Progenics and the transplant facility. The stored cord blood can be shipped nearly anywhere in the world.

Cord Blood Transplant

Why transplant stem cells?


Traditionally, the source of HSCs has been the bone marrow, hence the term “bone marrow transplant.” However, umbilical cord blood is another very important source of these precious life saving stem cells. In fact, researchers have discovered that stem cells derived from cord blood have many advantages over bone marrow-derived stem cells and are preferred in transplants.

The concept of the stem cell transplant is to replace dysfunctional stem cells  of an ill patient suffering from diseases treatable by health stem cells.

Hematopoietic (blood-forming) Stem Cells are capable of developing into various types of mature cells in the blood and immune system. For some diseases, stem cell transplant is the standard treatment. For some diseases they are the only therapy, and in some cases they are only employed when front-line therapies have failed or when the disease is very aggressive.

When a patient requires a stem cell transplant, the attending physician will decide which source of stem cells to use. This will depend on several factors, including but not limited to: the degree of HLA match between donor and patient (sometimes the donor and patient are the same person), the expected speed of engraftment (number of available cells), and the amount of time available to search for a perfectly matching donor. Over 40,000 cord blood transplants have been performed worldwide.  (Ballen K., F1000Research, V1, referees:2 approved, 2017). It has been recommended that transplanting cord blood stem cells with a close HLA match should be the first choice over bone marrow to treat malignant diseases (Smith A. and Wagner J. BJH147, 246–261, 2009).

What is the difference between Cord Blood and bone marrow transplants?

Transplantation using stem cells derived from cord blood rather than bone marrow has many advantages. These include immediate availability, a painless and non-invasive collection process, a lower risk of infectious complications, a superior capacity for proliferation and differentiation, a greater tolerance for HLA mismatch and most importantly, a reduced risk of fatal post-transplantation “graft-versus-host” disease. This is because cord blood stem cells are more immunologically primitive.

What kinds of diseases can be treated with Cord Blood stem cells?

Numerous types of diseases have been successfully treated with stem cells. These include cancers such as leukemia, lymphomas, and myelomas, blood disorders such as thalassemias, sickle cell anemia, and Fanconi’s anemia, and immune deficiency diseases.


List of Stem Cell Treatable Diseases

What is the chance of using cord blood?


How much cord blood is needed for a transplant?

The success of a transplant is closely related to the number of Total Viable Nucleated Cells in the cord blood unit. The optimal amount of cord blood for a transplant is defined as 2 x 107 nucleated cells per kilogram of the recipient’s body weight (Tse and Laughlin, Hematology (Am Soc Hematol Educ Program) 2005; 377-383); so saving more cells by preventing cell loss during processing is critical to ensure that the cord blood will be suitable for transplantation as time passes and the child grows. Any volume of cord blood could be useful, a small volume of cord blood could be used in regenerative medicine or could be expanded in the future.

Should I bank cord blood for each of my children?

Since there is a high chance that a child will closely match a sibling, it is more beneficial to save cord blood stem cells from each child to increase the probability of matching a family member who may develop a disease requiring stem cell therapy. Moreover, the additional cord blood units can be used for patients whose treatments may require two cord blood units.

Can a successful transplant of cord blood be guaranteed?



Company Information

What does a cord blood bank do?


  1. Screen mothers to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria for cord blood banking
  2. Provide a cord blood or cord blood and cord tissue collection kit
  3. Provide information on transportation of collected cord blood or cord blood and cord tissue samples
  4. Provide collection instructions to healthcare providers
  5. Processing
  6. Storage
  7. Arrange shipping of cryopreserved (frozen) cord blood for transplant
  8. Follow up after transplantation
Why is Accreditation important?

It is essential for a cord blood bank to be accredited as accreditation provides assurance of meeting international quality standards such as AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) and FACT (Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy).

Progenics has been AABB accredited since 2005, just one year after being in operation. Accreditation provides assurance of meeting international quality such as AABB and FACT.

Can I make payments and change my information online?


Got more questions?

Don’t worry. Feel free to reach out to us!