Opening New Horizons: Advanced Hematopoietic Stem Cell Expansion Strategies Bridging Cord Blood Therapy from Bench To...

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been conducted in clinical settings to treat patients with malignant or non-malignant blood diseases for decades. Cord blood (CB) has been recognized as an essential graft source with beneficial characteristics, such as a lower risk of relapse and a lower rate of chronic graft-versus-host disease. However, the limited number of cells in CB impedes its broader use and hinders the ability to harness its benefits. Various expansion strategies have emerged to address this barrier, based on a deeper understanding of fate decisions and the maintenance of stemness in hematopoietic stem cells. To achieve an efficient transition from the laboratory to clinical application, several strategies have successfully managed scale-up manufacturing to satisfy clinically relevant requirements for both quality and scale. These approaches have progressed to the clinical stage and have demonstrated promising results. Novel expanded CB-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) therapies, including OMISIRGE (Omidubicel onlv.), Zemcelpro (Dorocubicel), and upcoming products with International Nonproprietary Name designations, introduce innovative concepts and comprehensive considerations for improving CB transplantation. This progress enables novel therapeutic options and represents a breakthrough in traditional CB transplants. In this context, we summarize and explore representative techniques and products to provide insights that inspire future developments in CB-derived HSPC therapies.