Hot stock: Cordlife Group drops 32% after it is found to have damaged cord blood units of customers
CORDLIFE Group dropped as much as 42.9 per cent in early trading to near its lowest level since its listing in 2012.
At 9.19 am on Friday (Dec 1), the counter had plummeted to S$0.26 with 163,300 shares changing hands. The last time the counter closed at this level was in March this year.
Friday’s tumble in the stock followed the news the day before that the Ministry of Health issued a six-month suspension notice to the consumer-healthcare company, after finding that seven of the company’s 22 cord-blood storage tanks were kept at temperatures above acceptable limits.
Cordlife Group, one of five private cord-blood banks in Asia, has been barred from collecting, testing, processing and storing new cord-blood or tissue samples; the suspension starts within two weeks of the notice.
The mainboard-listed group will also be banned from running new types of tests on patients for the duration of the suspension. The company has to file its written representations within 14 days, said MOH.
The group apologised for falling short of the standards, and said it would work with MOH to strengthen its laboratory processes, procedures and staff training.
The group’s chief executive Janice Ong said in an e-mail to customers that the investigation into the incident is ongoing, and that the company is testing donated cord-blood samples in all tanks to determine the viability of the stem cells.
She also assured customers that if the cord blood cannot be successfully used for an approved cord-blood transplant, the company will “make every effort to find a suitable replacement cord blood”.
“We sincerely apologise, and are committed to restoring your confidence in Cordlife (Group) and the trust that you have given us over the years,” added Ong, noting that updates will be provided as soon as possible.
However, some customers told The Business Times that they did not receive any e-mails from Cordlife Group and were therefore unsure if their cord-blood units were affected.
One customer, Gene Ho, said her husband had to reach out to the sales representative whom they signed with after they read about the lapse in the news.
Cord-blood units of both her children, born in 2020 and 2022, were stored with Cordlife Singapore. The couple spent about S$9,000 to a five-digit figure to store their children’s cord-blood units.
While the sales representative told the couple their children’s cord-blood units were not among the 19,500 units in the seven tanks, Ho does not feel assured that the cord lining or blood is stored properly.
“I think majority of (the parents) who chose Cordlife did so because the company advertised themselves as the most transparent, (and) they are listed so their processes will be audited,” said the 35-year-old fraud investigator.
“We go with them for that peace of mind and assurance,” she added. “(But) apparently they’re not who they represent themselves to be.”
Another customer, Eddy He, also did not receive an e-mail from Cordlife Singapore. Although the company sent him a private message on Facebook, they were unable to provide him with updates or with a clear timeline on how to resolve the issue, he told BT.
“They have the minimum responsibility of letting people know what is going on, even if they don’t know who exactly is affected,” said the IT manager.
He paid about S$10,000 to store the cord-blood units of both his children, now aged three and five, including partial funding through the family’s Child Development Account.
In the late afternoon, Cordlife Singapore posted on Facebook that it is managing a high volume of messages from its Singapore clients, but will respond to queries via e-mail or a letter soon.
It added that the group had temporarily closed its Mount Elizabeth Novena outlet, Parkway East booth and counter at Thomson Diagnostic Ultrasound Centre as it redirects its resources towards customer outreach and support.
Shares of Cordlife closed down 32 per cent, or S$0.145, at S$0.31 on Friday.
