Plasma is an essential component of human blood and contains a wealth of vital proteins. They play an important role in a healthy, functioning body. For people with rare diseases and other serious health conditions, medicines made from donor plasma can replace what is missing or not functioning properly in the body.
Did you know that …
… 55% of the total blood volume is plasma? It contains water, salts and proteins that help the body protect itself against infections.
… future donors need to undergo 2 medical examinations before the donated plasma can be processed into medicines? Donors should be 18 years old and weigh at least 50 kg.
… it takes 7 to 12 months for the plasma donation to become a finished medicine? Only then can the patients be treated with it.
… some 1200 donations are needed to treat 1 adult hemophilia patient for 1 year? According to estimates, there are around 6000 patients living with this disease in Germany.1
… in Europe, a disease is considered rare if less than 1 in 2000 people have it? Worldwide, approx. 300 million people are living with a rare disease.2
The path from plasma donation to finished drug is demonstrated in this video by the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA).
CSL Plasma operates several hundred plasma donation centers in the United States and Europe. In Germany, a total of nine CSL Plasma Donation Centers are available to plasma donors.
Every donation counts, because plasma donation saves lives – our thanks go out to all donors!
More information about donating plasma:
1 Deutsche Hämophiliegesellschaft, 2021
2 EURORDIS, 2021
