Investigations into Cordlife's mishandling of cord blood likely to take 'another six weeks': Ong Ye Kung
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung also advised parents to hold off on requests to transfer cord blood currently stored with Cordlife elsewhere, until the full impact of the breaches is known.

A Cordlife branch at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital on Dec 1, 2023. (File photo: TODAY/Ooi Boon Keong)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: Investigations to determine the extent of temperature excursions for the six other affected storage tanks at private cord blood bank Cordlife and the viability of the stored cord blood in them “should take another six weeks or so”, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Friday (Dec 8).
In a Facebook post, Mr Ong also advised parents to hold off on requests to transfer cord blood units currently stored with Cordlife to other cord blood banks until the full impact of the breaches is known in a few weeks.
He added that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has held discussions with other cord blood banks, who are “prepared to help”.
“This is because if a unit is assessed to be unaffected, and Cordlife can strengthen its processes, it may be riskier to make a switch given the logistical complexity of making a physical transfer,” Mr Ong said.
Cordlife, which is listed on the Singapore Exchange, is under investigation after seven of its tanks storing cord blood units were exposed to temperatures above acceptable limits.
The affected storage tanks were found to have been exposed to temperatures above -150 degrees Celsius, the acceptable limit for cord blood units.
Around 2,200 cord blood units – stored in one of the seven affected tanks - belonging to approximately 2,150 clients have been damaged. Another 17,000 clients could be affected, pending investigations into the other six tanks.
Cordlife has been given 14 days to make representations to MOH.
Meanwhile, the company was ordered to stop the collection, testing, processing and/or storage of any new cord blood and human tissues, or provide any new types of tests to patients, for a period of up to six months.
Cordlife’s cellular therapy accreditation by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) has since been suspended indefinitely.
Another global body, the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB), has also commenced investigations and is collecting information to determine the next steps regarding the accreditation status of Cordlife's facility.
The company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday the updates by both bodies will "not impact" its cord blood storage operations.
MOH WORKING WITH CORDLIFE TO ADDRESS "SHORTCOMINGS"
Mr Ong noted that MOH is working to uncover the reasons for the breaches and acknowledged that many parents are "understandably upset and distressed".
“Nevertheless, we wanted to disclose publicly what we had found out first, which is why MOH put out a statement last week,” he said, adding that he had received many emails and messages since the news first broke on Nov 30.
In addition to the ongoing investigations, the ministry is working closely with Cordlife in the interim to “address their shortcomings”.
These steps include closely supervising the company’s cord blood banking activities and inventory management.
“We will ensure that Cordlife implements effective processes to adhere to requirements under the Healthcare Services (Cord Blood Banking Service) Regulations and prevent similar incidents from happening in (the) future,” Mr Ong said.
To protect the interest of the public and Cordlife’s clients, MOH will ensure that all relevant industry players learn from this episode, he added.
Depending on the findings of the ministry’s investigations, Mr Ong also said they will follow up with the necessary regulatory and enforcement actions against Cordlife, given the "severity of the breaches and the impact on clients".
“This is to ensure proper accountability, and to underscore the importance of industry players to ahere to the required regulatory standards,” he added.
“We will continue to keep parents updated.”