Biotech Company Launches Medical Device for Blood Transfusions

Biotechnology company, EryPharm, recently launched a medical device product to mass-produce cultured red blood cells and develop new sourcing for blood transfusions. 

The technological breakthrough product will improve the quality of life of multi-transfused patients who suffer from hereditary or acquired diseases of the red blood cells in particular, the company stated. 

After four years of research and development, EryPharm will enter into a pilot production phase and scale-up of cultured red blood cells (cRBC) using hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). 

The product will complement conventional transfusion for multiple reasons, including that the population of cultured red blood cells is young and their lifespan is expected to significantly increase. 

This improved efficacy reduces the need for transfusions and boosts overall quality of life for patients. 

Additionally, HSC do not need any genetic modification or pose an ethical problem. They have also been widely used for years. The steps to collect, prepare, and freeze HSC have been practiced and are mastered.

HSC can also be stored in the long-term and have capacity for proliferation and differentiation. This makes them an ideal candidate for producing cRBC for blood transfusions. 

Overall, these transfusions will contribute to decreasing the risk of immunization, infection, and iron overload, which results in cost savings for patients. 

“A HSC single donation will produce the equivalent of a hundred blood donations. This is a milestone in the history of blood transfusion,” Luc Douay, president and founder of EryPharm, said in the announcement.

“With EryPharm, we will be able to deliver an improved transfusion treatment to patients in recurrent need, whether they suffer from acquired or inherited anemia. EryPharm paves the way to a new paradigm for transfusion medicine,” Douay continued. 

Blood transfusions are among the most common procedures in hospitalized patients, young and old. Each year, about 120 million blood donations are given globally. 

Of the 120 million blood donations, 50 percent are accessible to just 16 percent of the world population. Shortages are common and various donors increase the risk of transmitted diseases. 

But over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decrease in blood donations. Currently, the national blood supply is at a critical low and health systems around the country are in need of help. 

Generally, blood centers nationwide aim to maintain about a week’s supply of "blood in hand" to meet area needs. But right now, many blood centers only have about one to two days of “blood in hand.” 

According to the New York Blood Center, the gap between blood needed and what’s being donated averages around 8,000 donations per month. Before the pandemic, over 500 community blood drives were hosted each month in the New York region.

Now, there are less than 300 in the area. And across the country, nearly 40,000 blood drives have been canceled. 

“The COVID-19 responses have significantly impacted the blood supply leading to a steep drop in donations, causing significant shortages in blood centers across the world,” Douay said. “Today more than ever we need a reliable supplementary supply of blood cells for transfusion.”