Requisite Donations

So much of healthcare relies on blood. Whether it’s operations and procedures, tending to emergencies, or using it as a starting material for cell and gene therapies, without blood so much of the life-saving work that happens in our hospitals would not take place.

For World Blood Donor Day 2024, the Blood and Cells Ambassadors Register (BCAR) brought together some of the biggest voices in the blood industry to discuss the many issues facing the blood sector today, including the ethics of blood donorship, maintaining quality, and repeatability of blood and cells in starting materials. Here, we share key messages from that discussion.

^{Scott Kennedy, Marketing Coordinator, Excellos}

What can be done to mitigate issues around depleting blood reserves?
 

Anna Razatos: Because donations have great value to both the donor and the patient, we feel an obligation to get everything we can out of them. Needs can vary in different places around the world, but we work to close gaps where we can. In the US, where platelet donations are slowing drastically, we are deploying technology for efficient collection from whole blood donations. This could create an additional 450,000 additional doses of platelets each year, just from material that is currently thrown in the trash. 

In the UK, where access to red blood cell exchange therapies for sickle cell disease can be limited by geography, the National Health Service England will deploy our devices to underserved regions.

What innovations are drawing the blueprint for the next-generation of blood services?
 

Anna Razatos: For decades, Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies has been dedicated to enabling better use of blood and its components. We support efforts to increase young donors in India, deploy mixed-reality technology to encourage donorship, and improve technology to make donating easier and more pleasant.

Our platforms are also designed to extend the shelf life of whole blood and components where possible, improving inventory and adding flexibility so that supplies can be accessible where needed most, particularly in an emergency. And our technology supports more efficient collection through automation, with software and analytics that can be used to improve the processes.

Scott Kennedy: We are actively evaluating donor-to-donor differences using high-throughput cell characterization platforms and are applying this data to strategically modulate our approach to creating cancer immunotherapies. 

Moreover, Excellos is building out quality tests to ensure that these products are safe to enter and ameliorate patients. 

Becky Butler Cap: Blood transfusion has evolved over the last century along with our understanding of its components, its uses, and the nature and setting of its benefits. Insights gained in hematopoietic stem cell transplant – where blood bankers and donors have played a dramatic role in saving lives – led to hypotheses. Testing these hypotheses about how a better-than-expected outcome might be tied to an overrepresented cell population in a donor product led to development of new life-saving advanced therapies. Blood banks have the staff, the infrastructure, and the insight to create and improve patient access to these life-saving products.

What are some of the ethical considerations for blood collections?
 

Priya Baraniak: As with any donation, there remain concerns and considerations surrounding the ethical collection of blood and tissues. Where attention is rightly often focused around the care of the patient, donor care must also be prioritized, especially in terms of safety and fully informed consent. Whether collecting traditional peripheral blood donations or cord blood from mothers, it is essential to ensure that donors understand the process, its physical and psychological impacts, and their rights, including the ability to revoke consent. This ethical and transparent approach fosters trust, and ultimately encourages sustained participation in donation programs.

And finally, what is your message for blood donors around the world?
 

Anna Razatos: We, of course, want to encourage people to donate and thank those who have. Donation usually takes around 10–15 minutes, but can save a life.

Scott Kennedy: At Excellos, we emphatically applaud the selflessness and commitment of donors to give their time and blood to help the medical community save lives across the world. Each blood product that we receive is used in a complex pipeline to enhance the donor’s cells and create microscale cancer-fighting machines. 

Jenny Ficenec: World Blood Donor Day provided an opportunity to remind people that a safe and reliable blood supply is essential – and to recognize the blood donors that make it possible. It is our hope that this reminder helped people think about blood more often. After all, it is the blood that has already been collected, tested and processed that is used each time a patient needs blood.

Priya Baraniak: Every year, World Blood Donor Day highlights the crucial need for safe blood supplies, while honoring the millions of life-saving donors worldwide. By promoting effective and varied blood services that provide safe blood and products, World Blood Donor Day emphasizes the importance of these contributions for ensuring robust healthcare systems, ready to help those in need. As we ask for donations, it is important to ensure we treat donors ethically at every step.

People typically picture blood donations in terms of transfusions, but they can be used for so much more. Blood and tissue donations are crucial for advancing medical research and personalized therapeutic development, especially in the case of cell and gene therapies. Companies like OrganaBio rely on donations to obtain critical cellular starting materials, such as stem cells and immune cells, ultimately contributing to the development of effective treatments for cancers and autoimmune disorders. 

World Blood Donor Day not only celebrates the generosity of blood donors but also highlights the ongoing need for their contributions – and the efforts of collectors to encourage a sustainable donation ecosystem. Ultimately, a sustainable donation landscape is critical for medical research and treatment development, playing a crucial role in enhancing global health and advancing life-saving therapies.

^{Credit: Images for collage sourced from Adobe Stock}