PPTA has seen plasma donations fall this year. This decline is caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty felt by plasma donors. Declines in donations have the potential to restrict patients’ access to plasma derived therapies, or PDTs. Amy Efantis, PPTA, President & CEO stated that “Given the length of time to manufacture PDTs, without the needed raw material, it may become challenging at some point to supply enough PDTs to meet rare disease patients clinical needs.” Standard plasma collection remains critically important to support the needs of individuals with rare and chronic diseases. It is encouraging to see an increased awareness about the role convalescent plasma can play as a potential treatment for COVID-19 and we hope this message has a similar effect for standard plasma collection which is needed for patients with rare and chronic diseases every day.
- From PPTA press release