How your plasma can help those with life-threatening diseases

October 05, 2021

Plasma helps your body fight diseases, and it deserves greater recognition. Ask people who have certain rare and chronic complex diseases – they will tell you that therapies made from donated plasma help them manage conditions such as immunodeficiency disorders, hemophilia and hereditary angioedema.

Plasma is a core substance within our blood and carries important cells, proteins, antibodies, hormones and oxygen to help our bodies fight infection and prevent blood clots.¹ Plasma collected from healthy donors is processed into life-changing therapies that replace missing or deficient proteins for people who generally require regular infusions or injections of these therapies for the duration of their lives. Plasma is also used in a wide variety of emergency and critical-care settings, further adding to its therapeutic importance and increased need throughout the world.

The power of plasma

Because plasma cannot be produced in a lab, it is a rare and precious resource. That’s one of the reasons why it’s important to highlight the versatility and power of plasma, help people understand how plasma is used to treat disease and to remind everyone of the urgent need for plasma donations. There’s also a growing global demand for medicine developed from plasma which is exactly why Takeda is continuing its pursuit of broadening access to plasma therapies for those in need around the world.

“BioLife celebrates the generosity of plasma donors for the role they play in producing vital, life-sustaining treatments for people in need – and encourages others to consider donating too,” said Hema Tallman, Senior Vice President, Global Head of BioLife, part of Takeda. “Often referred to as ‘liquid gold,’ plasma is a source of hope for thousands of people living with rare and chronic, complex diseases. BioLife is honored to be one of the largest and most innovative plasma donation networks in the world, enabling the production of Takeda’s plasma-based therapies.”

Between 130 to 1200 plasma donations are needed to treat just one patient for a single year.² With plasma donations lower than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BioLife Plasma Services, part of Takeda, is expanding to help meet the urgent need for plasma with almost 200 state-of-the-art plasma donations centers around the world.

For more information about plasma donation, please visit BioLifePlasma.com.

References

Stanford Children’s Health. What is Plasma https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=what-is-plasma-160-37
PPTA. Plasma. Importance of Donation. https://www.pptaglobal.org/plasma