The Daily Clarity

Social entrepreneurship at work

Capitalism can be used for social good, but it requires the intent to make it actually happen.  Sir Richard Branson, of Virgin Airlines fame,  is somewhat of a visionary. In addition to his business savvy, he  is also an active social entrepreneur.  He seeks to  improve the human condition by marrying business and charitable pursuits. His latest venture, Virgin Health Bank in the area of stem cell research,  may be a surprise to some. The fact that is is based in an Islamic country and supported by a fatwa (a religious ruling under Islamic law ) issued by a leading Muslim cleric , will probably shock some readers. However, that is where Branson excels – in teaming unlikely partners, pursuing seemingly impossible dreams, enjoying self-actualization, contributing to society, and making money along the way. Branson’s latest hybrid charity-business is the creation of a cord blood bank in the Middle East Emirate of Qatar.

Cord blood is a less controversial way of  harvesting stem cells. It is the blood remaining in the umbilical cord immediately following the birth of the baby. It contains a rich concentration of stem cells. It is collected with the parents consent immediately after childbirth in select hospitals around the world. It is being used extensively in research, and in the dark days of the Bush Administration limitiations on public funding of such research, offered one of the few avenues that researchers could legitimately still pursue cures using stem cells. Cord blood is being used to help in cures for over 80 diseases. It is ethically less contentions than other methods of harvesting stem cells, and has been rapidly commercialized. Many parents spend thousands of dollars to harvest the cord blood of their own children, cryogenically freeze it in a ‘cord blood bank, ‘ so that the vital cells can be used, if required, to cure their children of diseases they may fall foul of later in life. These commercial cord blood banks are available world-wide, as long as parents have the money to pay for the collection and storage,  and have access to modern advanced health care facilities where collection is practical. Prices vary but generally run in the thousands, but as the cells can be frozen for 10 years or more, many parents see it as a sound investment to protect their children from potentially deadly ailments.

Richard Branson heard about the cord blood bank concept and was intrigued. Originally he tried to donate $3 million to the British National Health Service to fund their efforts, but as a government body they couldn’t accept such a donation. Branson quickly developed a business model where he charged parents commercial level fees (around 1500 British pounds) but added a charitable twist.  Firstly, he decided to donate any profits (after deductions of costs for operating the bank) to charity such as medical research. He also ’split’ the cord blood sample that a parent collected into two. Half of the blood was retained for the parent and their child, the other half was donated to a ‘public’ bank do that others (researchers, children in need and so on) could access the cord blood. It became a double blood bank in essence, retaining half for the donor parent’s need,  and making half available on an as needed basis by others.

Branson could have stopped there, but he has an inquisitive mind. He discovered that many ethnic groups were underrepresented in these blood banks, often immigrant  ethnicities that did not have the necessary wealth to  collect their children’s cord blood. There was not only a shortage of these ethnic groups represented in the existing banks, but as time progresses and their cells are not added at anywhere the same rate, the deficit continues to grow. Branson looked around the world for an area that he could transport his model and Qatar caught his eye. Qatar is interesting, a small emirate in the Middle East Gulf,  rich in oil and gas. It was one of the first Middle East countries to become Islamic, but is ruled by a relatively liberal Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani,  who seized power in 1995 from his autocratic father. However, it is Qatar’s Queen that is central to Branson’s decision to locate his cord blood  bank in there. Queen Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned of Qatar is a ‘thoroughly modern  Millie’ with her own web site, who has a long history of biomedical research charity work. She has been honored in many countries around the world, including being awarded an honorary doctorate by the British Queen. In the Queen of Qatar, Branson saw the necessary ally to support his work.

Qatar  is also developing its own major science and technology park, and this caught Branson’s attention. After discussions with the Park and the Queen as Scientific America reports,  Branson “… announced that it was changing its name and relocating its headquarters to Doha as part of its new partnership with the Qatar Science & Technology Park. The QSTP, a massive complex of scientific research and educational facilities that formally inaugurated yesterday, is a linchpin of Qatar’s national strategy to transform itself into a world leader in health sciences and other disciplines by 2030. Branson said today that the bank chose Qatar because “the government of Qatar and the queen in particular understood the importance of this and wanted it.” Evans said that the presence of facilities such as the Weill Cornell Medical College campus and the future Sidra Medical & Research Center (now under construction) in Qatar were also part of the country’s draw.” Branson saw this as the ideal marriage of chance and opportunity. He could meet his objective of diversifying the ethnic cell collection, could position his Virgin Health Bank in one of the leading technology projects in the world,  and enjoy the support of the country’s rulers. Branson even managed to get clerical endorsement.  He realized that  one challenge would be to convince the Qataris to participate and engage the cord blood service. Qatari Islamic religious leaders are forward thinking  by comparison to many in region,  and so  Dr. Yousuf Qaradawi a prominent Islamic scholar,  issued a fatwa (Muslim sharia law) approving the collection of cord blood and encouraging its use.

Branson was in business, as the  Stemlife web site says, “…as for the charge for Virgin’s services which encompass a private-public model, nothing is confirmed but it is supposed that the Qatari government will initiate the project by footing the bill. Given a birth rate of approx. 16 births per 1000 people, all of Qatar  (population around 850,000) would have a birth rate of 16,000 per year. Not too much to handle if most deliveries are managed by a few hospitals.’  So there is Branson’s  brave social experiment. A cord blood bank, housed in a world leading  science park, in a rich country, allowing stem cell ethnic diversity,  and supported by an Islamic fatwa. That is more than a lifetime’s work for many,  but just one of the many performed by Sir Richard Branson. So the next time someone tells you the seemingly impossible can’t be done, just tell them the story of Richard Branson, a music producer-cum airline entrepreneur-turned charitable visionary and his cord blood bank in the Middle East.  Next, he is working on a space shuttle for tourists. He really is the man for the  millennium.