Plasma for medicine: An update

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people in Scotland who had recovered from Coronavirus went on to donate their plasma for medical trials.

Although these trials have now come to an end, we along with the other UK Blood Services (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) continue to evaluate how plasmapheresis (also known as plasma-only donation) can support NHS Scotland.

We are now pleased to announce that we will continue to collect plasma for medicines (such as antibody-rich medicines known as immunoglobulins) instead of Convalescent Plasma.

This means we are asking existing male plasmapheresis donors to keep donating. As previously advised, we will not use your donation for Convalescent Plasma transfusion, but will now redirect this to make Fresh Frozen Plasma, which is used to treat patients with burns or significant blood loss. In due course this will be used for manufacture of immunoglobulin for patients in Scotland. Thousands of patients rely on immunoglobulin medicines for short-term or lifelong diseases and genetic disorders, so you are making a valuable contribution to patient care.

We will keep you updated with this exciting project, and look forward to welcoming you at your appointment.

If you would like to be considered as a plasma donor, or to find out more about Plasma for Medicine, please email us on nss.snbtsenquiry@nhs.scot

Thank you.