[ BBC ] UK blood supplies to be used to make life-saving drug

UK blood supplies to be used to make life-saving drug

The treatment can be used to help patients who cannot make antibodies themselves, or in circumstances where their bodies are not making enough antibodies, or the ones they are making don’t work properly, as well as for disorders when the body’s immune system is attacking itself.

Plasma from blood donations in England will be used to make a vital medicine, following a rule change to reduce reliance on imported stocks.

Each year about 17,000 people need immunoglobulin treatment and, until recently, there was a ban on using plasma from UK  donors to safeguard against vCJD or “mad cow disease”.

Officials say this precaution is no longer necessary.

The move will help secure NHS plasma stocks to make the antibody-based medicines, called immunoglobulins.

Rollout of the service will happen across England over the coming months, and NHS blood donor services elsewhere in the UK could opt to do the same.

Currently, the UK relies solely on plasma imports, which can be in short supply – a situation made worse by Covid.

The treatment can be used to help patients who cannot make antibodies themselves, or in circumstances where their bodies are not making enough antibodies, or the ones they are making don’t work properly, as well as for disorders when the body’s immune system is attacking itself.