Asia Cryo-Cell to set up subsidiary in Malaysia

Asia Cryo-Cell's LifeCell (ACCL), a Chennai-based umbilical chord stem cell banking company, has planned an investment of $650,000 (Rs 2.9 crore) to set up its subsidiary in Malaysia.

The subsidiary will be called Asia Cryo Malaysia (ACM) and will comprise banking, collection and research and development (R&D) facilities.

"Our foray into Malaysia will be a 60:40 joint venture with a local partner. With an employee base of around 60 people, the Malaysian subsidiary will cater to around 17 countries.

The subsidiary will be a replica of our Chennai operations. We have also tied up with a few local hospitals in Malaysia for clinical trials," V R Chandramouli, chief executive officer, said. He declined to identify LifeCell's partner in the upcoming Malaysian operations.

"We have allocated around $1.5 million to be invested by 2008 for expanding our presence in the international market. We are looking at a turnover of Rs 100 crore by the end of 2009, of which around 10-15 per cent will be contributed by our foreign market," Chandramouli said.

The company has also firmed up plans to foray into Singapore and Sri Lanka. "The marketing and collection centre in Singapore will be called Asia Cryo Singapore (ACS). It was set up 10 days ago, and we are targeting Singapore's expatriate population. The collection of cord blood for harvesting stem cells, will be done there and would be brought to Chennai for banking," he added.

The marketing office in Sri Lanka is a franchisee agreement with a local partner and will be operational by April 1, 2007.

"The company is targeting around 120 people a year in Sri Lanka, as the level of awareness of umbilical cord blood stem cell banking, research and therapy is very low," Chandramouli explained.

LifeCell is a joint venture between Asia Cryo-Cell and Florida-based Cryo-Cell International.