MINNEAPOLIS--January 22, 2016--The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) /Be The Match®, the national organization that connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant, today announced the formation of Be The Match BioTherapiesSM, a subsidiary that will focus on partnering with organizations pursuing new life-saving treatments in cellular therapy.
For more than 25 years, the NMDP/Be The Match has provided services and expertise in the field of cellular therapy through the facilitation of 74,000 transplants. Be The Match BioTherapies will extend these unique capabilities to organizations developing and providing new cellular therapies, enabling these organizations to help critically ill patients who can benefit from these new treatments.
"We have a long-standing commitment to pursuing and providing innovative, life-saving therapies and services," said Jeffrey Chell, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of the NMDP/Be The Match and Be The Match BioTherapies. "We are entering this exciting field as a natural extension of our current mission to save lives. If the services and expertise we've built over the course of our history can help patients in new ways, we feel it's our obligation to help."
Cellular therapies, including marrow and cord blood transplant, are specialized patient treatments that are made from cells collected from the patient or an adult donor, often used to assist the patient's immune system. New types of cellular therapies can help patients for whom transplant isn't an option and address post-transplant issues such as life-threatening infection or relapse. These new therapies will treat patients with blood cancer, solid tumors and other conditions. As more is learned, much more can be done to treat cancer and other critical conditions.
Dr. Chell concluded, "While continuing our unwavering focus on transplantation, we look forward to partnering in this innovative field."
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About the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match®
The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match is the global leader in providing a cure to patients with life-threatening blood and marrow cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as other diseases. The nonprofit organization manages the world's largest registry of potential marrow donors and cord blood units, connects patients to their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant, educates health care professionals and conducts research through its research program, CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®),so more lives can be saved. NMDP/Be The Match also provides patient support and enlists the community to join the Be The Match Registry®, contribute financially and volunteer.
To learn more about the cure, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.