News

Dr Megan Finch-Edmondson

Senior Research Fellow and Regeneration Theme Lead, Cerebral Palsy Alliance

Adjunct Senior Lecturer, The University of Sydney

 

Cerebral palsy is a lifelong neurological condition caused by injury to the developing brain that affects movement and posture. Current treatments for cerebral palsy mainly focus on symptom management, and there are no treatments that directly target the underlying brain injury. There is significant interest in investigating umbilical cord blood as a treatment for cerebral palsy. This is because cord blood contains a variety of stem and progenitor cells that may have several benefits, with laboratory research showing that treatment reduces brain injury, cell death and inflammation. Umbilical cord blood has now been tested in several clinical trials for children with cerebral palsy, including more than 600 participants who have received this intervention. Promisingly, this research indicates that cord blood treatment is safe and can lead to improvements in gross motor skills. Work we are currently undertaking is also revealing who we should treat, how we should and when, to get maximal response. Further research is planned which may contribute to cord blood one day becoming an approved treatment for children with cerebral palsy.

 

Thank you,

Megan

 

Megan Finch-Edmondson PhD

Senior Stem Cell Research Fellow, Regeneration Theme Lead

Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Institute

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, the University of Sydney

Brain and Mind Centre, Level 4 88 Mallett Street, Camperdown, NSW 2050

The University of Sydney

Dear Royan Stem Cell Technology Company, As a clinician working for children with disabilities including cerebral palsy, I have experienced advantages of umbilical cord blood (UCB) cell therapy for their neurological recovery through clinical research. Hopefully, I wish more UCB units will be cryopreserved so they can be used in patients with neurological disorders, especially children with cerebral palsy.

 

Prof. MinYoung Kim M.D, Ph.D

CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine,

Republic of Korea

 

 

 

By Frances Verter, PhD

Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation sends our warm regards to Royan Stem Cell Technology on the occasion of World Cord Blood Day. Representatives from both of our organizations were able to meet in person this year during a conference in Dubai.
 In the summer of 2023, our team published a research article as well as a newsletter article pointing out that that during the Coronavirus pandemic, research centers in Iran were #3 in the world for running clinical trials of cell therapy against COVID-19.
 

In August 2023, we published a newsletter article about the importance of cord blood transplants for treating the two blood diseases known as Sickle Cell Anemia and Thalassemia. In Iran, Thalassemia is the most common hereditary disease (ref 2013, ref 2020). Many of the cord blood units released for treatment in Iran have gone to children with severe cases of Thalassemia, such as the boy named Mojtaba who was saved by his baby sister’s cord blood. An international commission of medical doctors published a report on the status of treating Sickle Cell Disease worldwide in July 2023. One of the action items from their report was a call for more countries to establish stem cell transplant programs. The development of treatment programs that employ stem cells is an area where Iran has been one of the most active medical communities in the middle east.  
 

Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation maintains close ties with Royan Stem Cell Technology because Royan is the leading provider of cord blood storage and cord blood therapies in Iran. May we continue to work together towards a future of health and peace for all.
 

18^th Anniversary of Royan Stem Cell Technology Company (RSCT)

Royan Stem Cell Technology Company (RSCT) celebrates its 18^th anniversary today on 25^th September 2023. Through the last 18 years, the company has faced great number of ups and down, challenges and barriers on its path toward turning its dreams into fact and act. Royan Stem Cell Technology Company was founded in 2005 to collect, process and cryopreserve the umbilical cord blood stem cells. RSCT comes from a Hybrid Bank Generation (Covering both a Private/Family and Public bank services) and since the beginning, more than 200,000 samples have been stored up to date.

 Nowadays, besides storing umbilical cord blood stem cells, RSCT has expanded its activities in cryopreserving cord tissue and peripheral stem cells as well. RSCT, in the light of enjoying a group of knowledgeable and skillful  staff and researchers and taking advantage of cutting-edge scientific technologies and methods , has made great achievements in innovating various products such as amniotic membrane bandage and blood serum. It has also launched its Refinery Plant of Maternity Products (RPMP) through which it is supposed to extract and produce other by-products coming along maternity and delivery procedure.

During today ceremony, Dr Zarrabi, Managing Director of RSCT, made a speech reviewing of the past 18 years memories and history of the company and expressed his sincere gratitude to all those who spared no effort on the way of making such progress and achievements by far.

This year and through a voice message provided by Prof.Frances Verter, the Founder of Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation,  she stated congratulations to RSCT on the occasion of its 18^th anniversary and wished more success for it.

 This round of congress was held both in-person and virtually so that lecturers and participants who could not make their presence in this event can enjoy the lectures and topics represented during this scientific event virtually. This year, scientists from all over the world including US, Austria, Italy, China, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Germany and other scientific and research centers exchanged and shared their latest achievements and findings with each other.

Royan Stem Cell Technology Company (RSCT) also took part in this international scientific event holding up its booth in the exhibition part of the congress through which it represented its recent progress and achievements made in the realm of maternity by-products and stem cells extracted from such products which drew the attention of some of congress foreign guests visiting RSCT booth. RSCT, along with other programs, hosted the foreign guests and some other Iranian scientists and researchers participated in this year congress in the gala dinner ceremony organized by RSCT.    

Geography & Prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia

Sickle Cell Anemia and Thalassemia are both “hemoglobinopathies”: they are diseases in which the patient’s body does not properly make the correct type of hemoglobin, the key ingredient in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen1. In Thalassemia, the primary symptoms of the defective blood cells are anemia and infections, which cause patients to be chronically fatigued2,3. There are many variants of Thalassemia, but it is mostly the version Beta Thalassemia Major that causes patients to require many blood transfusions, which leads to organ damage from iron overload and various complications1-3. In Sickle Cell Anemia, the red blood cells are sickle-shaped instead of round1,4. In addition to experiencing anemia, Sickle Cell Anemia patients have repeated pain crises when the sickle-shaped blood cells stick together and block blood vessels4. This can cause a stroke, and over time the repeated blockages cause organ damage4.

All the hemoglobinopathies are hereditary diseases that are carried by genetic mutations1-4. As a result, they run in families, they are more prevalent in certain ethnic groups, and they are more prevalent in parts of the world where those people live. See the maps embedded in this page which display the world regions afflicted by high rates of Sickle Cell Anemia or Thalassemia5,6. When a person has only one disease-carrying genetic mutation, they are a “carrier” of Sickle Cell or Thalassemia, and their symptoms are manageable1-4. Many carriers are totally asymptomatic. But when a person inherits the genetic mutation from both parents, they will have the diagnosis of Sickle Cell Anemia or Beta Thalassemia Major1-4. It is also possible for a patient to have a crossover disease with one Sickle Cell mutation and one Thalassemia mutation.

 

From a global perspective these are not rare diseases. The epicenter of Sickle Cell Anemia is in central Africa; in some parts of Kenya about 20% of the population carries the trait and up to 3% of births have the disease5. Without modern medicine, 50% to 90% of the children in Africa that are born with Sickle Cell Anemia will die before the age of five7. Yet ironically, adults who carry Sickle Cell trait on only one gene have much better chances of surviving Malaria8! Clearly, there is an evolutionary advantage to being a carrier of this disease, so it makes sense that Sickle Cell persists in tropical parts of the world. Over the past century, migration has led people carrying Sickle Cell trait to disperse across the world, and today the genetic testing company 23andMe estimates that 300 million people worldwide are carriers9.

 

Thalassemia is most prevalent in Mediterranean countries and in Southeast Asia6,10. In the region encompassing Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, the prevalence of Thalassemia carriers is between 20% and 50% of the population10. Like Sickle Cell carriers, Thalassemia carriers also have better chances of surviving Malaria11. Thalassemia is especially common in those religious and ethnic groups where cousins marry cousins; these are called “consanguineous marriages”12. But several countries that require carrier screening prior to marriage have succeeded in dramatically lowering the birth rate of children with Beta Thalassemia Major, up until recent influxes of unscreened refugees12.

Together, about 7% of the world population is a carrier of a hemoglobinopathy, making these conditions as a group the most common genetic disorder in the world and one of the world’s major health problems13.

Drug Treatments for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia

Hydroxyurea is a simple and effective drug treatment for Sickle Cell Anemia. First approved by the US FDA in 1967 as a treatment for blood cancers, it was discovered in the 1980’s that hydroxyurea alters the production of blood cells in such a way that fewer sickle cells are produced and hence patients have fewer blockages of their blood vessels. With a simple daily regimen of hydroxyurea, children born with Sickle Cell Anemia have over 80% survival at age five14,15. Moreover, this drug is not under patent protection anymore so it is available as a relatively cheap generic. Yet, hydroxyurea is out of reach for Sickle Cell patients in impoverished parts of Africa. For example, a specialty clinic in Kenya for sickle cell patients reports charging 20 Kenya shillings (14 cents in U$D) for a hydroxyurea pill, but even this low price can be challenging for a parent with a daily income of 300 Kenya shillings and several children to be treated16.

Since 2017, the United States FDA has approved three more drugs for managing Sickle Cell Anemia: Endari from Emmaus Medical, Adakveo from Novartis, and Oxbryta from Global Blood Therapeutics17-19. These drugs try to correct the behavior of the sickle shaped red blood cells, by making them more flexible, more slippery, and better able to hold oxygen. Without examining the relative efficacy of these drugs, the problem they have as a group is that they are expensive, even for patients in Western countries who obtain them through insurance plans. The wholesale cost per year is U$D 30,046 for Endari, U$D 96,354 for Adakveo, and U$D 92,584 for Oxbryta20. Within the United States, a non-profit organization named the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is relied upon as a gold standard for evaluating how the financial cost of a therapy compares to its benefit in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). According to a 2020 report from ICER, all three of the new Sickle Cell drugs are over-priced by a factor of three to nine20,21.

Unfortunately, there are no drugs approved that correct the function of blood cells in patients with Thalassemia. However, improved management of iron overload from blood transfusions has enabled children with Beta Thalassemia Major to live longer and healthier lives12,22.

Cord Blood Transplants for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia

A stem cell transplant is a one-time treatment that can cure Sickle Cell Anemia or Thalassemia. However, stem cell transplants carry a small risk that the patient may die of a treatment related mortality, and some fraction of patients will develop draft versus host disease (GvHD) post-transplant and be dependent on immunosuppressive drugs23,24. Cord blood transplants have an advantage over bone marrow transplants because they cause less GvHD. Pediatric patients that have experienced less organ damage from prolonged illness with hemoglobinopathies and less iron overload from repeated transfusions have better transplant outcomes. And pediatric patients are small enough to rely on cord blood as the graft source. Hence children with a “severe” hemoglobinopathy are considered good candidates for cord blood transplants23-25. For Sickle Cell this includes patients that have had a stroke, that have acute chest syndrome, that have recurrent pain crises despite medication, or other serious complications that make the benefits of the transplant outweigh the risks. Similarly, a transplant is recommended for Thalassemia patients that are transfusion-dependent.

In the United States, the first Sickle Cell patient to have a cord blood transplant was Keone Penn in 1998. Since then, several US-based Sickle Cell patients have become advocates for cord blood transplants. Marriam Carol Mulumba had a cord blood transplant at age 7 in 2008, and has been counseling other children going through transplant ever since. She published her life story at age 12 and again at age 17. In 2023, beauty pageant contestant Sosa Evbuomwan shared that she was the first child cured of Sickle Cell Anemia by a transplant of the expanded cord blood product from Gamida Cell.

In India, about 12 to 14 thousand children are born each year with the severe form of Thalassemia26. Pediatric hematologists in India report that hemoglobinopathies are the most common indication (at 34%) for children receiving stem cell transplants27. LifeCell, the largest cord blood bank in India, notes that the majority of cord blood units they have released were for sibling transplants to treat Thalassemia26. Another study by hematologists reports that the typical cost for a sibling cord blood transplant in India is INR 20 lakhs, which is equivalent to U$D 25,00028. The costs of treatment in India are so much less than the United States that the entire cost of a cord blood transplant is less than the cost to acquire a cord blood unit from a public bank in the United States28,29.

In Iran, it was estimated in 2018 that 4% of the population were carriers of Beta Thalassemia and 18,783 patients suffering from Beta Thalassemia Major had been identified30. A 2015 survey of the economic burden of the disease found that the average cost to support these patients with blood transfusions, iron chelation, etc. was U$D 8321.8031. This includes the indirect burden of lost wages, but the majority of the cost, U$D 7286.80, is direct medical expenses which under the Iranian public health system are an annual cost to society of over U$D 136 million for all the patients in the country31. Royan Stem Cell Technology Company, the leading private and public cord blood bank in Iran, often provides sibling cord blood transplants for Thalassemia. The cost to privately store cord blood with Royan is about U$D 250 and the cost of the transplant is about U$D 2500. This is another example of a country where a stem cell transplant is feasible and much more cost effective than lifelong supportive care of Thalassemia.

In China, the public health burden of Thalassemia is compensated by the large inventory of donated cord blood in public banks, so that a matched donor can be found for transplant when a sibling is not available. At the 2023 cord blood conference of the China Maternal and Child Health Association, it was said that one out of six people in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong is a carrier of Thalassemia32. Professor Liu Sixi, chief physician of the Hematology and Oncology Department of Shenzhen Children's Hospital, said, "In 11 years, we performed 909 cases of Thalassemia transplantation, and the overall survival rate was 99%. This data is ahead of countries and regions such as Europe and the United States32."

In Thailand, close to the world’s epicenter for Thalassemia carriers, families are turning to assisted reproduction to help them conceive a savior sibling that can provide a cord blood transplant to an older child with Thalassemia33. Relying on pure luck, the probability that the parents will conceive a child that is an exact HLA match to their sibling is 25%, while the probability that the new baby will also carry Thalassemia is 75%. Whereas, by relying on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), the parents can guarantee conceiving a child that is both a perfect donor and not a carrier of Thalassemia. The Superior A.R.T. and Jetanin fertility centers in Thailand, which have the largest case series in the Far East and Pacific, report a live birth rate of 44% with a total cost of U$D 10,000 to 30,000, including delivery of the baby34.

In Kenya, the Swiss cord blood bank CordSavings has entered a private-public partnership with local authorities for public health in geographic areas where HLA diversity appears to be particularly high. Their joint goal is to provide worldwide Sickle Cell patients with access to better matching cord blood units for transplants. During the first half of 2023, they succeeded in commencing collection, processing, and storage of cord blood units from a large public hospital. But, as of today this effort has been temporarily put on hold due to the current civil unrest in in Kenya35.

 

Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia

Gene therapy is the latest medical tool to treat patients with severe hemoglobinopathies. Sickle Cell Anemia and Beta Thalassemia are prime candidates for gene therapy because they are both “monogenic” diseases, where the genetic mutation that causes the disease is on a single gene – if you can fix that gene, you can cure the disease1.

The United States FDA approved a gene therapy for Thalassemia in August 202236, and it is widely anticipated that two gene therapies for Sickle Cell Anemia may be approved in 202337. So far, these gene therapies work by taking stem cells from the patient, genetically editing them in a laboratory, and then giving them back to the patient after some chemotherapy to wipe out the patient’s existing stem cells and make sure that the newly edited stem cells take over. This is basically giving the patient an autologous transplant of their own stem cells, with a genetic manipulation process in addition. This is more complicated than a stem cell transplant, and it is also much more expensive.

The RAND Corporation estimates that the average cost of a cord blood transplant in the United States in 2017 was U$D 831K, including a hospital stay of seven weeks29. The US price tag of the approved gene therapy for Thalassemia is more than 2.5 times higher, at U$D 2.1 million for the product alone38. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) approved of the $2.1 million price, by comparison to the cost of supportive care and the impact on quality of life, because the gene therapy is a one-time curative treatment38. In the phase 3 trial of the gene therapy, 90% of the Thalassemia patients achieved transfusion independence39,40. But, let us remember that cord blood transplant is also a one-time curative treatment, and there are reports of patient series with 97% to 100% success24,32,34. This is not intended to disparage gene therapy, but there is much we do not know yet about the head-to-head comparison of gene therapy versus traditional stem cell transplants for severe hemoglobinopathies. Some of the issues to be examined are the length of hospital stay, the engraftment rate, and the clinical outcomes for matched patient cohorts.  

The face of gene therapy for Sickle Cell Anemia belongs to Victoria Gray, a mother of four from Mississippi who was the first person to receive CRISPR gene editing in July 2019 as part of a clinical trial. Her experiences have been chronicled by National Public Radio (NPR) in a series of exclusive interviews every few months. In December of 2021 she told NPR, "This is major for me and my family" … "Two years without me being in the hospital? Wow. We just can't believe it. But we're so grateful." In March of 2023 she was invited to speak at a conference in London about human genome editing. While sightseeing in Trafalgar Square she said, "I would never have been able to walk this long before" … "It's a huge difference — night and day. I feel like I got a second chance."

The race has already begun to develop the next generation of gene therapies for Sickle Cell Anemia and Beta Thalassemia. Multiple clinical trials are employing the current technique of extracting the patient’s own stem cells and editing them to deliver a cell-based gene therapy37,41,42. Laboratory researchers are studying what are the best ways to perform the gene editing to achieve strong and consistent responses in patients43. The next frontier will be to perform the gene editing directly in the patient’s body (in vivo), without the need to extract stem cells and process them in a laboratory. Novartis is devoting their Sickle Cell research pipeline to the in vivo gene editing approach, in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation44. This approach is not yet in clinical trials.

Ethics & Economics of Access to New Therapies

 As the general public becomes aware that gene therapies are “transformative” for genetic diseases, questions are being raised about the trade-off between the high cost of these therapies versus the need for basic public health programs45. In the case of rare diseases, expensive gene therapies can be absorbed by a public health system because the number of patients is limited. For example, ICER calculated that the U$D 2.1 million price tag of Zynteglo (with 80% refund if it doesn’t work) was reasonable in the United States because there are only 1,000 to 1,500 patients in the US living with transfusion-dependent Thalassemia38. Obviously that calculation will collapse in parts pf the world where hemoglobinopathies are more prevalent and the national economy is less robust. In the case of Sickle Cell, 75% of the world’s patients live in Africa, and 95% of Sickle Cell patients live in countries on the lower half of the wealth scale46.

The Lancet Haematology Commission has devoted an entire issue of their journal, published 11 July 2023, to defining global strategies that can improve outcomes in Sickle Cell Disease46. A large part of the report deals with the need for better screening, more systematic epidemiology data, and better training of healthcare providers. However, the Commission states that their “ultimate aim is to provide access to definitive or curative therapies for every patient with sickle cell disease.” The report also reviews the current state of cell and gene therapies and the challenges that they face. The Commission adopts 12 key recommendations and a goal deadline for each (see pages 43 to 45 of the overview). In the immediate future, the number of people diagnosed with Sickle Cell is expected to increase, due to more comprehensive newborn screening. In the arena of cell and gene therapy, the Commission calls for low- and middle-income countries to expand their capacity for stem cell transplants and to provide universal HLA typing for children with Sickle Cell Anemia. The Commission asks for clinical trials of advanced cell and gene therapies to be conducted at multiple sites so that patients from less wealthy countries can participate. The Commission also requests investment in technologies that will bring advanced therapies to the point of care. Finally, the Commission seeks more creative partnerships between governments, pharmaceutical companies, and non-profits, to help realize these visions.

Conclusions

For the foreseeable future, cord blood transplants will continue to be the best option for pediatric patients to obtain a one-time curative treatment for Sickle Cell Anemia or Beta Thalassemia Major. It is more feasible to bring cord blood banking and transplantation to the point of care in countries with a high proportion of hemoglobinopathy patients than to wait for gene therapies to be widely available. It is notable that the Lancet Haematology Commission on Sickle Cell Disease has called for more stem cell transplant programs in developing nations; hopefully that policy statement can be leveraged to help fund such programs.

References

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21. American Society Hematology (ASH). ICER Report Finds That Sickle Cell Drugs Are Too Expensive. ASH Clinical News. Published 2020-01-24
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This treatment was performed with the collaboration between BebéVida and Duke University.
 
Salvador, a five-year-old Portuguese boy who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, recently underwent treatment using stem cells from his own umbilical cord blood with the aim of improving his condition. The procedure was carried out in August 2022, at Duke University Hospital, in the United States of America (USA), within the scope of the Expanded Access Protocol (EAP) led by Prof. Joanne Kurtzberg, internationally renowned pioneer in the use of umbilical cord blood. It is estimated that, in Portugal, 1 in 1000 children of school age lives with autism spectrum disorder. (Editor’s Note: At the end of 2022 the Expanded Access program stopped enrolling children with autism.) 
 “Since Salvador underwent treatment, we have been experiencing several improvements, both at home and in school. We noticed that he is more attentive and concentrated and we hope that in the coming months the progress will be even more visible and significant”, says Liane, mother of the boy who lives with autism. 
At the end of 2019, Liane, a professional nurse and mother of two boys, contacted Duke University, in North Carolina, as she was aware of the Expanded Access protocol that was running in parallel to the clinical trials being carried out for the diagnoses of autism spectrum and cerebral palsy with infusion of cord blood stem cells. 
The two times she was a mother, Liane decided to cryopreserve umbilical cord blood stem cells through a Portuguese tissue and stem cell bank, BebéVida. “It was, in a way, this decision that motivated the hopeful contact with Duke University”, reflects Liane. 
At the beginning of 2022, after much persistence, among several contact attempts over the last three years and several required medical reports, Salvador's mother finally managed to have Salvador's case accepted in the Expanded Access Protocol (EAP) at Duke University. 
The cryopreservation laboratory, where Salvador's stem cells were stored since his birth, was contacted by Liane to release the sample. BebéVida sent the sample to the Pediatric Hospital of the Duke University of Medicine, following the most demanding storage conditions in order not to compromise the biological material. Weeks after the sample arrived in the US, the procedure was scheduled. The infusion of stem cells took less than an hour and, as there were no side effects in the first 24 hours, the boy was discharged and was able to return to Portugal. 
The use of a biological product, that is, stem cells from umbilical cord blood, is an experimental clinical approach to the treatment of the autism spectrum. If the treatment is successful, it is expected that, about 6 to 12 months after the infusion of his own cord blood, the boy will show improvements in speech. The first assessment took place in February 2023, when 6 months have passed after the infusion. 
 
In recent years, several clinical trials have shown that the use of umbilical cord blood and tissue is not only a safe procedure, but also has therapeutic benefits in some children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. The benefits manifest in the reduction of clinical symptoms of the pathology, increased neuronal connectivity is seen, as well as behavioral and physiological improvements, such as social and communication skills. 
Cryopreservation consists of a simple procedure after the time of delivery, non-invasive and risk-free, painless for both the mother and the baby, which consists of collecting stem cells from umbilical cord blood, which are then properly stored while maintaining their original properties for many years. 
It is estimated that 50,000 Portuguese have autism spectrum disorders. According to the American Psychiatric Association, autism spectrum disorders are considered a neuro-behavioral syndrome originating from changes in the central nervous system that affect the normal development of the child. 
Autism is called a spectrum due to the variability of symptoms, from the mildest manifestations to the most severe forms, which can be distributed into three major domains of disturbance: social, behavioral, and communication. Symptoms usually occur in the first three years of life, however, they may not fully manifest until social interactions exceed the limit of the child's capabilities. While there is no cure, behavioral therapy or medication or a combination of both can help improve daily performance. 
 

The 2nd WANA (West Asia & North Africa) Congress was held here on 10th and 11th May 2023 in Isfahan, Iran and Royan Stem Cell Technology Company (RSCT), launching its booth through this scientific congress, made an active presence as its Gold Sponsor, coming along with its two scientists representing their speeches in various sessions.

During the opening ceremony of the 2nd WANA Congress, Mr.Hassan Moslemi Naeini, the Head of ACECR, said’” This congress is opening a new different route for exchanging the latest scientific findings and achievements beyond the borders.” “Royan Research Institute, in its nature, is ever-lasting reviving breeze blown by the Late Dr.Saeed Kazemi Ashtiani and it looks eternal and WANA congress is considered as the consequences of the same perspective and movement.” he added. 

Through this recent scientific event, Dr.Abdolhossein Shahverdi, the Head of Royan Research Institute, said’” In the light of God’s guidance and valuable efforts made by the scientists and researchers in Royan Institute, we have made significant progresses in various medical realms such as reproduction, cell science, stem cells and biotechnology and have got considerably achievements in the region as well.” He also continued saying that:” WANA congress focusing mainly on the latest clinical trials in the fields aforementioned, tries to create a regional network among the countries located in WANA region, West Asia and North Africa.”

The Chairperson of the 2nd WANA Congress, Dr.Mohammad Hossein Nasr Isfahani who is also the Head of Royan Biotechnology Research Center in Isfahan, pointing to the main root of WANA terminology, stated that we are striving to set up a network with Muslim countries around ourselves and African countries as well. Considering Iran as the cradle of science, we do hope that in future we witness all regional and neighboring countries under the umbrella of multilateralism in all scientific fields. 

 He also said’: We observe operational events during this 2-day congress and when the science turns into wealth we will see prosperity in almost all scientific and technical fields, such as regenerative medicine, stem cells, reproduction and so forth.”

This scientific congress, which is the foundation of joint scientific research with the subject of applied biotechnology as a branch of the Royan International Congress and with the approach of dealing with the latest scientific achievements in the field of the role of biotechnology in industry and treatment, at the global level and focusing on the countries of the region WANA [West Asia and North Africa] will be held.
WANA Congress is held at the global level with a focus on the countries of West Asia and North Africa, and it is one of the branches of the Royan International Congress, whose main focus is the review of the latest practical achievements in the field of biotechnology, in addition, it can be mentioned that this congress is the precursor of joint scientific research in the field of biotechnology. The scientific secretary of this congress is Professor Mohammad Hossein Nasr-Isfahani and its executive secretary is Dr. Mehdi Hajian.
Royan Institute believes that this congress can be a place for synergy and meeting of scientific and commercial activists of biotechnology and infertility treatment, and it can be an opportunity for the presence of domestic and foreign knowledge-based companies that have entered the production of consumer items.
It can be said that the establishment of WANA Scientific Association is one of the most important goals of holding this congress.
The goals of creating this scientific association are:
Transferring scientific experiences and establishing effective communication with scientific centers, researchers, and scientists of the WANA region all over the world, identifying the capacity of cooperation in the region's countries, and expanding the communication network.
Development of communication between knowledge-based companies in the WANA region to increase communication, interaction, and trade of scientific products.
Improving the economy of biotechnology and creating regional leadership in the management and guidance of knowledge-based companies in order to develop export-oriented products
Providing the complete chain of providing knowledge-based services [Total Solution] including training, expert consulting, supervision, and implementation of macro projects in the field of biotechnology to applicant countries by knowledge-based companies.
Developing and improving the country's food security by using modern technologies and moving towards establishing the independence of the food economy of Islamic countries as a vital component in the revival of regional power at the global level.
WANA International Congress will be held in English. Respected professors, researchers, and students can refer to the website of the Congress at the Internet address https://royan-edu.ir to learn about the main points of the program and the deadline for registration.
 

​Royan Stem Cell Technology Company was also invited and participated in this 2-day scientific event in the form of a delegation including its experts from R7D and Product Development Departments. The 1st Dubai Stem Cell Congress included 650 delegates from 29 countries and 30 lecturers and 9 exhibitions held along with the congress. There were also patients invited to this event talking about their success stories of cord blood stem cells transplantations. Most of the lectures were concerned with the importance of exosomes and their importance and vital role of cord blood stem cells in treatment of diseases which used to be thought incurable. Cord Blood Banking and its vital role in nations’ health was the core of almost all speeches and meetings and scientific panel discussions throughout this event. 

Among those with whom RSCT delegation held meeting we can refer to some as follows:

1-Dr. Frances Verter: The Founder and Manager of Parents’ Guide to Cord Blood Organization

2- Mr.Thomas Moss: CEO of CryoCell Cord Blood Bank in the USA

3- Dr.Esam Abdul Azim: Scientist and researcher from Qatar Biomedical Center

4- Dr.Fatma Alhashemi: Chairman of Dubai Stem Cell Congress

5- Dr.Kostas Papadopolos: CEO of Stemlife Company in Thailand and Manager of Pacific-Asia Cord Blood Association

6- Dr.Asawari Bapat: Global Consultant-Biotherapies and Gene Therapies

And some more. As stated there was an exhibition held along this congress in which medical device manufacturing companies exposed their latest achievements and devices concerned with stem cells and stem cell cryopreservation and transplantation. RSCT delegation held commercial meetings with some of them such as: Life Science Company, ISSAC Association, MRC Company, Cell Genic Company and some more.

This event provided the opportunity for Royan Stem Cell Technology Company (RSCT) to introduce itself globally and represent its achievements and progresses made in this realm of science to the world. Right now a scientific collaboration network is formed between RSCT scientists and researchers with other peer colleagues all around the world and scientific issues concerned with Cord Blood Stem Cells are perpetually being debated through this network. RSCT is also invited to make presence in the next Dubai Stem Cell Congress to be held in 2024.

A pictorial report provided by Parents’ Guide to Cord Blood Foundation of this congress can be found at the link below:

https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/rising-cell-therapy-community-gulf-region

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