The Blood Bank reached a major milestone within weeks. The first three thousand kilos of blood plasma, rich in antibodies against the corona virus, were transferred to Sanquin Plasma Products. There it is processed into medicine. If the clinical study in October confirms its efficacy, the medicine can be used to protect vulnerable target groups against corona infection.
Big steps in a short time
Daphne Thijssen, director of the Blood Bank and member of Sanquin’s Board of Directors, saw her colleagues make great strides in the fight against the corona virus in a short time. “This is an intensive time. Since March, our Research and Diagnostics divisions have laid a solid foundation with research into antibodies, both into how they work, the development of a reliable antibody test and how many donors have those antibodies.
Antibodies in blood plasma
That knowledge now comes together with a major campaign to collect sufficient antibodies. There is only one way: via blood plasma donations. This is possible thanks to the mission of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the willingness of former patients to donate their blood plasma, and the Sanquin employees who – with all safety measures still taken into account – ensure that the plasma collection runs smoothly.
Huge challenge
We are talking about 16,000 donors who will make a total of up to 50,000 donations within 20 weeks. This is a huge challenge for Sanquin, because our daily work, 2,750 donations per day for patients who need blood, will continue in the meantime! ”
First milestone
The first milestone has been reached: the first 10% of the desired 30,000 kilos of donated blood plasma with antibodies against the corona virus have been transferred by the Blood Bank to Sanquin Plasma Products (SPP). There it is processed into ampoules with concentrated antibodies. A small part, about 100 kilos, has already been delivered to the international CoVIg Plasma Alliance. The Alliance is investigating in a clinical study whether this plasma medicine is actually effective. Thanks to the participation of SPP in this Alliance, Sanquin can use the results of that study to have the drug used for high-risk groups in the Netherlands if it proves to be effective.
Eventful weeks
Daphne Thijssen looks back on a few eventful weeks. “I saw in the results that by the end of July we had welcomed the 10,000th donor, 10,000 donations had been made, 1,000 donor registrations in 1 day, and the first donor with 10 donations. Really something to be proud of. But unfortunately no reason to rest on one’s laurels. We’re really not there yet. We are still looking for at least 4,000 more donors. As long as there is no vaccine available to make people immune to COVID-19, we must continue to do so to protect at-risk groups from serious infections. ”
Donate yourself
For anyone who thinks they have been infected with corona and would like to donate blood plasma: www.sanquin.nl/corona
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