Posted by Michael Wonder on 09 Jun 2020
Europe wants to make its own drugs, but it needs American blood plasma
8 June 2020 - Europe wants to be master of its own destiny in producing essential drugs and finding COVID-19 treatments, but it’s got a problem. It relies on the United States for a critical ingredient: blood plasma.
As global mistrust deepens, European Union officials are casting around for ways to reduce the bloc’s dependence on American plasma, the liquid component of blood used in a host of drugs and now widely applied in COVID-19 experimental therapies.
The coronavirus crisis should push authorities to overhaul Europe’s blood donation system, according to some industry players. The United States’ steadier plasma supplies are partly due to its system of paying people to donate blood used to develop medicines. In most European countries, donations are unpaid because of safety and ethical reasons.
