Cordlife ordered to stop collecting new cord blood after failing to meet MOH requirements

The regulatory action taken against Cordlife follows a notice of intent in September by MOH on the intended suspension of its licence and the company’s subsequent submission of written representations to the Health Ministry.

After “careful consideration” of Cordlife’s response, MOH said that it has assessed that Cordlife had not adequately addressed the concerns raised during MOH’s mid-point audit in July 2025 to continue providing its cord blood banking service in a safe, clinically and ethically appropriate manner, and would require time to satisfactorily address the outstanding issues.

“To help ensure that Cordlife continues to meet its obligations under the Healthcare Services Act and better ensure the continuity and safety of CBUs already stored with Cordlife by existing clients, MOH has decided to proceed with the regulatory action to impose additional licence conditions on Cordlife, which in effect suspends it from collecting, testing, processing and/or storing new cord blood,” it said.

The conditions will be in force even if Cordlife’s licence is renewed for one year in January 2026, and until the company “demonstrates the ability to consistently meet the regulatory requirements for cord blood banking services”, said MOH.

MOH also stated that it wanted Cordlife to replace its current clinical governance officer and review all laboratory records of the approximately 160 CBUs collected since January 2025.

“MOH will continue to closely supervise Cordlife’s rectification of its various lapses, and will not hesitate to take further regulatory action should further non-compliances be found.”