Cordlife faces S$5.45 million civil claim from clients over damaged cord blood units
Alternatively, the claimants are seeking a refund of all storage fees paid to date, or an order for the assessment of damages
[SINGAPORE] Cordlife Group is facing claims of at least S$5.45 million in damages from clients who stored 109 cord blood units (CBUs) with the company.
The cord blood bank was notified on Dec 1 of the filing in the courts by a person representing the group of claimants, the company said in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Dec 2).
The claimants want Cordlife declared liable for loss and damage arising from negligence or breach of contract, and “causing irreparable damage” due to its failure to properly store and preserve the CBUs.
The suit also seeks damages of S$50,000 per damaged unit. Based on the 109 units involved, the company estimates the total claims to be at least S$5.45 million.
Alternatively, the claimants are seeking a refund of all storage fees paid to date, or an order for the assessment of damages.
Cordlife noted that members of this claimant group are clients whose units were stored in tanks later labelled as “damaged” and “high risk”.
They are part of the same group that had previously issued a letter of demand to the company on Mar 28, 2025 through their solicitors.
The company is currently seeking legal advice on its next steps.
While the board is still assessing the financial impact, it warned that an order to pay the claims would hurt the group’s financials for the year ending Dec 31.
Cordlife added that the claims relate solely to its operations in Singapore, and the group remains in full operation in other geographical markets.
One of many setbacks
This is the latest setback for the company, whose mishandling of cord-blood units first came to light in November 2023, when the Ministry of Health (MOH) conducted unannounced audits on the company.
Then, it was revealed that seven of the 22 tanks at Cordlife were exposed to temperatures above acceptable limits during different periods from November 2020. This damaged the cord-blood units belonging to at least 2,150 clients.
After resuming limited service on Sep 15, 2024, another round of operational lapses were identified in a midpoint audit in July this year. Cordlife was then served a notice of intent for a one-year suspension of its cord-blood banking services by MOH on Sep 29.
The company’s shares were down 2 per cent or S$0.003 at S$0.146 at the end of trading on Wednesday.
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