H.R. 5160: Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025

When a patient with leukemia, lymphoma, or another blood disorder needs a transplant from an unrelated donor, the search runs through the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. It connects patients with adult marrow donors and with cord blood units stored in public banks.

H.R. 5160 keeps that program authorized through 2031 at $33.009 million a year, up $2 million from today's level. It also extends the separate authorization for the National Cord Blood Inventory over the same five years.

The larger change is what the cord blood inventory is supposed to be. Current law sets a goal of at least 150,000 new units. The bill replaces that number with a "sufficient supply" of high-quality units, with HHS deciding what sufficient means based on current science and clinical information.

HHS would be required to manage the size and makeup of the inventory to maximize the chance a unit actually gets used, to keep it genetically diverse, and to spend money efficiently. The department could decide which stored units are worth keeping and which to collect, retain, or dispose of — on its own initiative or when a bank petitions.

Banks would no longer have to commit to keeping units available forever; the period would be set by HHS. And if a bank shuts down or falls out of compliance, HHS could move its units to another qualified bank so they stay in reach of patients.

Finally, the bill defines a "high-quality" unit as one meeting current industry standards and any FDA requirements, so the bar moves as those standards change.