NYBCe and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub are teaming up to develop an iPSC platform utilizing cord blood for regenerative medicine.

      TL;DR: The New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe) and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub have partnered to create induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from cord blood, utilizing NYBCe's extensive collection of over 30,000 units, which includes rare HLA-homozygous donors, alongside Biohub's expertise in reprogramming immune cells. The generated cell lines will serve as shared research resources enhancing regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and cell therapy, aiming to bridge the existing gap between lab biology and scalable, immune-compatible treatments.

      Most umbilical cord blood collected at birth goes to waste. After being clamped and cut, it's discarded as medical waste, along with the valuable stem cells it contains—cells that are immunologically naive, genetically varied, and able to differentiate into nearly any cell type in the human body. On April 30, the New York Blood Center Enterprises, operator of the world's oldest public cord blood bank, announced their collaboration with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a biomedical research network funded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. Their aim is to convert discarded cord blood cells into sustainable resources: a library of induced pluripotent stem cell lines derived from cord blood, which will be immune-system compatible and available as shared resources for regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and cell therapy. While this collaboration may not be significant compared to large pharmaceutical deals, it aims to address a persistent challenge in cell therapy: the disconnect between what researchers can create in laboratory settings and what can be manufactured, stored, and used for patients on a large scale.

      About the biology: Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult cells reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells, capable of developing into any cell type. This technology was pioneered by Shinya Yamanaka, who received the Nobel Prize in 2012 for showing that mature cells could be reverted to a pluripotent state using four specific genes. Since then, iPSCs have been foundational to a growing array of experimental therapies including iPSC-derived neurons for Parkinson’s disease, iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes for heart failure, and iPSC-derived immune cells for cancer. Over 115 clinical trials using pluripotent stem cell therapies are currently ongoing worldwide, with more than 1,200 patients treated and no major safety concerns reported. The FDA has designated over 60 products with its Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy status, including the first iPSC-derived therapy to obtain both Fast Track and RMAT designations—a Parkinson's disease treatment developed by iRegene. The global iPSC market is forecasted to grow from $2.6 billion in 2026 to $4.1 billion by 2031.

      The issue is not whether iPSCs work, but their origins. Most iPSC lines in research come from skin or blood cells of individual donors, leading to lines with highly varied genetic and immune profiles. When transplanted, these cells may be seen as foreign by the recipient's immune system, requiring lifelong immunosuppressive drugs that come with their own risks. Creating patient-specific iPSC lines for each individual is too expensive and slow. The field requires a middle ground: a bank of standardized, well-characterized iPSC lines that are broadly compatible with large population segments without needing personalized manufacturing for each patient. This is where cord blood comes into play.

      Regarding resources, the National Cord Blood Program, part of NYBCe's Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, was created in 1992 by Dr. Pablo Rubinstein with support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. It was the world’s first public cord blood bank and has maintained an inventory of over 30,000 cord blood units authorized for clinical transplantation and research. The program produced HEMACORD, the first FDA-licensed cord blood product, which has been used in thousands of transplants for patients with blood cancers and other conditions lacking a matched bone marrow donor. Cord blood is immunologically privileged, meaning its stem cells are less likely to cause graft-versus-host disease compared to adult bone marrow, allowing for greater HLA mismatch tolerance between donor and recipient. A phase 2 trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in April 2026 by Fred Hutch Cancer Center found that a pooled cord blood product achieved a 96 percent one-year survival rate in leukemia patients with no severe graft-versus-host disease cases.

      Among NYBCe’s collection are cord blood units from donors homozygous at key HLA loci, which means they possess identical copies of immune compatibility genes on both chromosomes. These units are rare and valuable, as iPSC lines produced from them would be compatible with a large portion of the population. Research in Japan, where the iPSC haplobanking idea started, showed that lines from about 50 homozygous donors could match over 90 percent of the Japanese population. The NYBCe-Biohub collaboration will utilize these homozygous