CHS strongly supports CBS’ plasma initiative
Montreal, September 7, 2022 – “The Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS) strongly supports Canadian Blood Services’ plans to work with a leading company in the plasma industry to collect more domestic plasma and have it fractionated in Canada for Canadian patients,” said Wendy Quinn, CHS President, after today’s announcement by CBS to create a partnership with Grifols Canada.
The partnership will see Grifols opening plasma collection centres across Canada with the goal of increasing domestic plasma supply to 50%-60% of what is needed to meet the ever-increasing demand for immunoglobulins, used to treat a range of serious, chronic conditions, notably primary immune deficiencies. These plasma collection centres will operate on the model of compensated donations, already well established in the U.S., Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechia. Canadian Blood Services will continue to rely on the purchase of plasma-derived medicinal products from compensated donors in the U.S. for the remaining supply.
“The Canadian Hemophilia Society recognized more than two decades ago that plasma-derived medicines were of equivalent safety and quality, whether made from compensated or uncompensated donations, said Ms. Quinn. Over the past 25 years, they have demonstrated an impeccable safety record. Today, security of supply is the challenge. This long-term agreement will lead to a more secure supply of these medicines, one that is less at risk from supply chain interruptions.”
The agreement will direct the Canadian plasma collections, both from CBS’ own plasma centres and the plasma recovered from whole blood donations, as well as those from the Grifols collection centres to the Grifols fractionation facility in Montreal, due to open in 2024. Grifols also owns a smaller plant in Winnipeg, recently purchased from Kedrion in January 2022. Grifols Canada and its predecessors have been fractionating Canadian plasma into finished plasma products – immunoglobulins, albumin and coagulation factors – in their U.S. facility since the early 1990s.
Grifols manufactures Alphanate, one of the three plasma-derived products licensed by Health Canada for the treatment of von Willebrand disease, the most common bleeding disorder. The others are Humate P, manufactured by CSL Behring Canada, and Wilate, manufactured by Octapharma Canada. CBS has recently launched a tender (request for proposals) for the supply of FVIII/VWF for the period beginning April 1, 2023.
For more information on the agreement, please click on the following announcements from: