Kathryn Cross, founder of Anja Health, a cord blood safe
The global stem cell therapy market was $342.7 million in 2019 and is expected to reach $3.7 billion in 2027, according to Emergen Research. The FDA approves umbilical cord blood treatment for certain lymphomas, solid tumors, anemias, inherited red cell abnormalities, leukemias, inherited immune system disorders, bone marrow cancers, and inherited metabolic disorders. However, cord tissue and placenta stem cells have also been used in studies and clinical trials to treat acquired hearing loss, autism, cerebral palsy, congenital heart defects, and more.
For Kathryn Cross, her interest in blood stem cells research is personal. When she was three years old, her 1-year-old brother, Andrew, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after an accident in which he nearly drowned. Cross launched Anja Health to make it affordable for most parents to freeze stem cells in a "safe."
"Doctors told my parents that [Andrew] would pretty much be a vegetable for the rest of life," said Cross. Her dad is a physician and her mother has a background in pharmaceuticals. They searched for treatments in the U.S. and China. Cross's mother discovered a study by Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University that demonstrated that children with cerebral palsy who received their cord blood stem cells improved their motor and social skills. Stem cell therapy is a non-invasive treatment used for regenerating damaged or diseased tissues and cells.
The family's mission became finding a stem cell donor match until Andrew passed away in February of 2021 at 19 from pneumonia and complications from cerebral palsy. Finding a donor was made much more difficult because Andrew was of mixed race. His father is white and his mother is Chinese. When it comes to matching stem cells, race and ethnicity are important in predicting the likelihood of finding a match. Yet, most people who have frozen their blood cord have higher incomes and are less likely to be people of color or mixed race.
Still, Andrew would have to take immunosuppressants even if they found a donor. As with an organ transplant, immunosuppressants were necessary to ensure that his body didn't reject the stem cells.
"Currently, only about 2% of parents freeze umbilical cords to preserve stem cells," said Cross. To make storing stem cells in a safe accessible for everyone, Cross started working on Anja in February 2021 and launched the startup in July.
"My vision is that everyone has access to their cord blood stem cells, so they don't have to face the chances of rejection potentially," said Cross. "Nobody should go through the trouble of finding a match as my family did. If someone gets sick or has a freak accident as Andrew did, they can turn to cord blood stem cells for potential treatment."
Clients have the option of choosing to store cord blood in the Anja safe for $35/month, umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord tissue for $65/month, or umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord tissue, and placenta for $85/month. You pay fees for eight years, then get the next 12 years for free.
Cross's biggest challenge is raising awareness about the uses for stem-cell therapies, the importance of freezing umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord tissue, and placenta in a safe, and that an affordable option is available. On TikTok, she shares her personal story and the challenges her family faced finding a donor match because she and her brother are of mixed race. She has 120,000 followers.
Anja recently announced a $4.5M seed funding round led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six, with participation from Harvest Ventures, Crista Galli Ventures, and individual investors. Ohanian was invested because not only is he a dad, but he saved stem cells for his daughter, Olympia," said Cross. "She's of mixed race and he's always just been an advocate for things like paid paternity leave."
The capital will be used to accelerate the startup's mission to make cord blood stem cell banking more accessible and affordable regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or income. The company will use the new financing to bolster its executive team, drive strategic growth, foster its community, and reach and inform all parents-to-be.
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