The Bone Marrow Donor Programme

What The Bone Marrow Donor Programme does

The Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) is a Singapore-registered charity founded in 1993 that operates the country's only public register of volunteer bone marrow donors. The organisation exists to match patients with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other blood disorders to compatible unrelated stem cell donors, supported by a digital HLA-typed donor registry integrated with the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) global network of more than 90 registries and over 30 million donors. Beyond donor recruitment and management, BMDP provides search and transplant coordination services, public education, and patient subsidy schemes for Singaporeans, Permanent Residents, and their spouses. The charity has approximately 34 staff and is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by President Ramesh Subrahmanian, himself a transplant recipient, with Charles Loh as CEO (since 2018) and Ravindran Nagalingam as COO (since October 2023).

BMDP's revenue is derived from two principal streams: philanthropic donations (eligible for 250% tax deduction in Singapore) and transactional patient service fees charged for verification typing (under $4,500), local stem cell collection (~$21,500), and overseas donor procurement (up to $67,000). The organisation's go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, recruiting donors through mall, school, and company roadshows, virtual roadshows, an annual flagship event (Match for Life), and a Corporate Partner Programme that enables workplace donor recruitment, with self-serve online registration supported by postal cheek-swab kits. Educational assets include donor toolkits, patient booklets, the publication 'BMDP Stories: Saving Lives Together', and a children's storybook. Donor recruitment is geographically focused on Singapore, with secondary connectivity to the international registry network for cross-border patient and donor searches.

The organisation reported a fundraising efficiency ratio of 11.7% in FY23, well within the 30% guideline stipulated for Singapore charities, and received the Charity Transparency Award 2024 from the Charity Council. Clinical capabilities have expanded through adoption of MMUD and Haplo transplant pathways — over 100 patients in Singapore have received haplo transplants since the locally developed Haplo-2017 protocol — supported by the March 2025 Beyond the Perfect Match Symposium. Four operational divisions — Donor Recruitment & Public Education, Donor Management, Search and Transplant Services, and Corporate Services — execute the mission against the stated goal of 'a donor for every patient'.

Name

The Bone Marrow Donor Programme

Legal name

The Bone Marrow Donor Programme

Website

https://bmdp.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) is Singapore's only public bone marrow donor registry, matching patients with leukaemia and blood diseases to volunteer donors via a digital HLA database connected to the WMDA global network. Founded in 1993, it combines donor recruitment, search and transplant coordination, public education, and patient subsidies for Singaporeans, PRs, and spouses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bone Marrow Donor Registry Services

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Bone Marrow & Stem Cell Transplant (BMT/HSCT) (HLAKAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations (BPAGACAJ)

Keywords

• Bone marrow donor registry
• Stem cell transplantation
• HLA tissue typing
• Patient donor matching
• Volunteer donor recruitment

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Individual and corporate donations fund operations including donor registry management, public education, search and transplant services, and patient subsidy schemes. Tax deduction of 250% available for donations.
2. Patient Service Fees: Hematopoietic Stem Cell procurement and transplant services charged to patients: Verification typing under $4,500, local donor collection around $21,500, overseas donor up to $67,000. MediShield and Medisave do not cover these costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

BMDP operates Singapore's only public register of volunteer bone marrow donors, recruiting healthy individuals aged 18-49, conducting HLA tissue typing, and matching patients with leukaemia, lymphoma, and other blood diseases to compatible donors. The organization coordinates the full transplant process including verification typing, stem cell collection (local or overseas), and delivery logistics, while also providing patient subsidy schemes and public education programs.

Product overview

The Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) is Singapore's only public stem cell donor registry, operating as a charity organization rather than a commercial product company. BMDP offers an integrated suite of services comprising four core operational divisions: Donor Recruitment & Public Education (expanding the donor registry through outreach and campaigns), Donor Management (supporting donors through the registration and donation process with counseling and follow-up), Search and Transplant Services (matching patients with donors and coordinating stem cell procurement and delivery), and Corporate Services (enabling back-office operations). Supporting programs include the Match for Life flagship annual roadshow, Virtual Roadshow, Corporate Partner Programme for workplace giving, and Patient Subsidy Schemes for financial assistance. Educational resources include publications like 'BMDP Stories: Saving Lives Together' and the children's storybook 'Adam's Adventure: Saving Sarah's Smile', plus the Patient Booklet and Donor Toolkit. The organization is structured around its charitable mission to find a donor for every patient rather than as a product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Donor Recruitment & Public Education

Quantifiable outcome

• Survival rate for Leukemia and Lymphoma transplant recipients: 60-70% within first year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Medical College of Wisconsin / CIBMTRminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2025Dr Bronwen Shaw, Professor from Medical College of Wisconsin and Chief Scientific Director of CIBMTR, delivered keynote at BMDP Symposium 2025 on MMUD transplants.
• World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA)coreTechnology or IntegrationBMDP is a member of the WMDA, connecting Singapore's registry to over 90 international registers with access to more than 30 million donors worldwide for international patient searches.
• Certified Collection and Transplant CentrescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with certified Collection and Transplant Centres for stem cell procurement and transplant procedures.
• WMDA-Accredited Typing LaboratoriescoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with World Marrow Donor Association accredited typing laboratories for tissue typing to determine donor HLA profiles.
• Corporate Partner Programme CompaniescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partners host BMDP outreach sessions for employee education and donor recruitment, and support employees who donate with volunteer leave.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Singapore Red Cross: Singapore Red Cross operates the Blood Bank in Singapore (blood collection and supply) and is a fellow Singapore-based humanitarian organization. Comparable to BMDP as a Singapore nonprofit running donor-related healthcare services, though focused on blood rather than marrow.
• Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry: Canadian Blood Services operates the national unrelated stem cell donor registry in Canada, providing donor recruitment, HLA typing, and search services. Comparable to BMDP's registry and search/transplant coordination functions, though with a broader national scope.
• Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry: ABMDR is Australia's national bone marrow donor registry, providing donor search, HLA typing, and transplant support. Comparable in core function to BMDP but operating in a different geography and at national scale.
• Hong Kong Marrow Match Foundation: A bone marrow donor registry serving Hong Kong and a fellow WMDA member. Comparable to BMDP as an Asia-based registry addressing ethnic minority matching challenges in a Chinese population.

Others

• World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA): WMDA is the global association that connects BMDP to 90+ international registries with 30M+ donors. Comparable as the ecosystem/infrastructure partner enabling BMDP's international search and transplant logistics.
• CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research): CIBMTR is a research collaboration that collects and publishes outcomes data on blood and marrow transplantation, with which BMDP's symposium partners. Comparable as an adjacent enabling organization that supports clinical outcomes and research relevant to BMDP's transplant coordination services.

Direct peers

• Be The Match (NMDP): Be The Match, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), manages the largest bone marrow donor registry in the United States. Directly comparable to BMDP as a nonprofit donor registry offering search, transplant coordination, and post-transplant support.
• Gift of Life Marrow Registry: Gift of Life operates a volunteer bone marrow donor registry primarily focused on Jewish and other ethnic minorities, offering donor recruitment and global transplant search services. Comparable to BMDP's mission, particularly BMDP's focus on addressing donor ethnic-diversity gaps.
• DKMS: DKMS is one of the world's largest international bone marrow donor centers, operating donor registries and facilitating transplants across multiple countries. Highly comparable to BMDP in core mission (volunteer bone marrow donor recruitment, HLA typing, global search) while operating at significantly larger scale.
• Anthony Nolan: Anthony Nolan operates the UK's first bone marrow donor registry and runs patient donor search and transplant coordination services. Closely comparable to BMDP as a charity-led registry operating HLA-typed donor recruitment and matching services for patients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/bmdpsg
• Facebookfacebook.com/bmdp.sg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bone-marrow-donor-programme
• Instagraminstagram.com/bmdpsg/?hl=en

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Bone Marrow Donor Programme