Berlin – Hospitals in Germany need 14,000 blood donations every day to ensure medical care. However, in addition to blood reserves with concentrates of red blood cells (erythrocytes) for transfusions – for example in operations or emergencies with high blood loss – pharmaceutical companies also produce vital medicines based on blood plasma. These special medicines help, for example, against cancer, immune deficiencies, burns or serious operations – and also against hemophilia, popularly known as “hemophilia”. The good news for World Haemophilia Day: Patients suffering from severe forms of the hemophilia have almost the same life expectancy as healthy people thanks to drug therapies based on blood products.
In hemophilia, blood clotting is disrupted due to a genetic defect. Patients lack a certain coagulation factor – a protein that allows the blood to clot. In the case of injuries, the blood clots very slowly or not at all. Severe hemophilia can also cause bleeding in the body at any time and for no apparent reason. In Germany, around 5,000 to 6,000 people are affected, mostly men.
As a result of recurring bleeding, joints can become deformed and stiff, and nerves and vital organs can be damaged. To prevent internal bleeding, people with severe hemophilia receive regular injections that replace the missing clotting factor. “Pharmaceutical companies obtain this clotting factor from human blood. In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies can also produce factor preparations genetically (recombinantly) without plasma,” explains Dr. Nicole Armbrüster, Head of Biological Drugs at the Federal Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI).
Blood plasma as the basis of therapy
The coagulation factors are contained in the so-called blood plasma. After a whole blood donation, the blood plasma is separated from the blood cells in a centrifuge. Plasma is a yellowish liquid containing over 120 proteins – some of which are useful in treating diseases. “Thanks to pharmaceutical research, it is possible to obtain the right coagulation factor for the respective blood coagulation disorder from human blood plasma,” says Armbrüster. The good news: Since then, many patients have been able to treat themselves independently with the preparations at home. Hospital stays are reduced – a great gain in quality of life for those affected.
Blood plasma products are special medicines
The same strict manufacturing requirements apply to medicinal products made from blood as to traditional medicinal products. There are also additional regulations: “The blood plasma obtained from the donation is initially stored for at least four months and is only released when the donor has donated blood again and the blood test for certain infections was again inconspicuous. In this way, infections that are not yet visible in the early stages can be ruled out,” explains Armbrüster.
“The production of blood plasma products is highly complex and requires a production lead time of several months and a lot of know-how. Even though pharmaceutical companies can sometimes produce coagulation factor preparations without plasma, they also need blood plasma donations for other protein-based drugs such as the so-called “albumins” or “immunoglobulins”. They are used for serious injuries, extensive burns or to treat life-threatening infections such as tetanus or hepatitis. However, since blood plasma cannot be produced synthetically, it is only available in limited quantities. The high risk of bottlenecks in blood products therefore also depends on the voluntary willingness to donate blood or plasma. Blood and plasma donations can therefore save lives,” emphasizes Armbrüster.
You can find out more about the topic of supply security for vital blood plasma products (BPI position paper). here.
Note: The use of the photo is free of charge with the source Shutterstock/Iryna Kalamurza and in connection with the press release.