Children’s Wisconsin and CooperSurgical® Partnership

Children’s Wisconsin and CooperSurgical® Partner to Provide Cord Blood Registry® Services to Families and their Children with Congenital Heart Defects

Program enables Herma Heart Institute to conduct research with newborn stem cells for cardiac treatments in an effort to avoid recurrent heart surgeries.

Trumbull, Conn., – September 25, 2024 – CooperSurgical, a global leader in fertility and women's health, and the Herma Heart Institute (HHI) at Children’s Wisconsin today announced a collaboration utilizing Cord Blood Registry (CBR®) services by CooperSurgical to create a research repository for children with congenital heart defects (CHDs). Participating families will receive free enrollment and 18 years of no-cost storage of cord blood and cord tissue through CBR.

“Our collaboration with Children’s Wisconsin is a natural extension of CBR’s existing Newborn Possibilities Program®, which enables families with specific conditions to collect and store cord blood and cord tissue for their child at no cost, and release samples for approved research and procedures to treat such conditions,” said Dr. Vrunda Desai, MD, FACOG “Both our organizations are dedicated to improving health outcomes for women, babies, and families, and we look forward to the exciting possibilities for future treatments coming from the leading researchers at the Herma Heart Institute.”

The partnership creates an innovative research repository of umbilical cord blood and tissue from babies who are prenatally diagnosed with CHDs, from which HHI researchers aim to better understand the etiology of CHD and develop novel therapeutic options using the patient’s own stem cells. Treatments may include generating or repairing cardiac structures or devices in an effort to improve outcomes and minimize the need for future interventions.

“Partnering with CBR allows us to utilize a unique, important resource – a patient’s own cord blood and tissue – to inform and refine our precision medicine approach for patients with congenital heart defects,” said Joy Lincoln, PhD, director of cardiovascular research at the Herma Heart Institute. “We are grateful for this opportunity with CBR to better serve our community and further advance pediatric medical research, improve lives, and reduce overall healthcare costs.”

Expectant and eligible families with prenatal diagnoses of congenital heart defects at the Herma Heart Institute and those being cared for at other hospitals across the USA can apply to the joint CBR-HHI program. To date, 145 eligible families have been enrolled.

For more information, please visit: https://childrenswi.org/cordblood

About Children’s Wisconsin

Children’s Wisconsin is the region’s only independent health care system dedicated solely to the health and well-being of children. We offer a wide range of care and support for children of all ages. Our services include medical care, dental care, child and family counseling, foster care, adoption, social services, child advocacy and injury prevention.

About CBR by CooperSurgical

Cord Blood Registry® (CBR®) is the largest private newborn stem cell company in the world, helping parents store stem cells from cord blood and cord tissue for their children. Founded in 1994, CBR is the #1 choice for parents¹ and most recommended by OB/GYNs for newborn stem cell preservation.² The company has released over 700 samples intended for use in transplant medicine and regulated investigational regenerative medicine applications. CBR is here to help expand the possibilities of what newborn stem cell therapies can do for families and give parents the confidence to Bank on CBR™. More information can be found at www.cordblood.com.

About CooperSurgical

CooperSurgical® is a leading fertility and women's healthcare company dedicated to putting time on the side of women, babies, and families at the healthcare moments that matter most in life. CooperSurgical is at the forefront of delivering innovative assisted reproductive technology and genomic solutions that enhance the work of ART professionals to the benefit of families. We currently offer over 600 clinically relevant medical devices to women's healthcare providers, including testing and treatment options.

CooperSurgical is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CooperCompanies (Nasdaq: COO). CooperSurgical, headquartered in Trumbull, CT, produces and markets a wide array of products and services for use by women's health care clinicians. More information can be found at www.coopersurgical.com.

About CooperCompanies

CooperCompanies (Nasdaq: COO) is a leading global medical device company focused on improving lives one person at a time. The Company operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision is a trusted leader in the contact lens industry, improving the vision of millions of people every day. CooperSurgical is a leading fertility and women’s health company dedicated to assisting women, babies and families at the healthcare moments that matter most. Headquartered in San Ramon, CA, CooperCompanies (“Cooper”) has a workforce of more than 15,000 with products sold in over 130 countries. For more information, please visit www.coopercos.com.

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