People Who Have Recovered from COVID-19 Can Now Donate their Convalescent Plasma in select Grifols U.S. Plasma Donor Centers
BARCELONA, Spain, April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grifols (MCE:GRF, MCE:GRF.P, NASDAQ:GRFS), a global healthcare company with a track record of more than 100 years and a recognized leader in the development and production of plasma-derived medicines, today announced it has begun identifying, screening and selecting volunteer donors who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma in select U.S. cities.
The plasma will be used to produce a hyperimmune globulin that, if proven effective, could potentially treat the disease. This initiative is a result of a collaboration between Grifols, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research Authority (BARDA), and other Federal health agencies.
Hyperimmune globulins are plasma derived-medicines that are effective in the treatment of severe acute infections. Through the concentration of antibodies from plasma collected from recovered COVID-19 individuals, the hyperimmune globulin can offer precise and consistent dosing with high purity, high potency and a strong safety profile that may help current patients' immune systems respond to the infection.
Grifols has decades of experience partnering with its thousands of regular plasma donors across the country through its industry-leading network of more than 250 FDA-approved centers dedicated to collecting plasma. The company specifically designed and constructed a building for the processing of immune globulins to treat emerging infectious diseases that was already used during the last Ebola outbreak in Liberia. Thanks to that experience, Grifols acquired knowledge and expertise that today will help to expedite the product rapidly to clinical trial.
"For individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, donating plasma at one of Grifols' donor centers to produce a potential treatment for the disease is a way they can help make a difference during this exceptional time," said Dr. Marilyn Rosa-Bray, Grifols Chief Medical Officer and Vice President Quality, Regulatory Compliance & Laboratories. "This hyperimmune globulin would offer treating physicians a predictable and consistent dosing of the antibody against the virus that causes COVID-19."
Grifols is acting with urgency in this global crisis and volunteering its expertise and resources to the project. The resulting anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin will then undergo controlled clinical trials with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to evaluate its safety and efficacy as a viable treatment for COVID-19.
Currently, Grifols is focusing on collecting convalescent plasma from potential donors in a handful of cities that had a high number of COVID-19 cases earlier in the outbreak. These cities and their surrounding areas include Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Diego and Seattle. Additional COVID-19 donation locations will be announced in the near future.
Recovered COVID-19 individuals interested in donating should call 1-866-END-CV19 where trained Grifols specialists will prescreen potential donors and direct them to their local Grifols plasma donor center. Interested donors must have a diagnosis made with a test (nasal swab or blood) and complete resolution of COVID-19 symptoms at least 28 days prior to donation, or complete resolution of symptoms at least 14 days prior to donation along with a negative molecular test for COVID-19, as well as meet our routine eligibility criteria for normal source plasma donation. To learn more visit www.grifolsplasma.com.
About Grifols
Grifols is a global healthcare company founded in Barcelona in 1909 committed to improving the health and well-being of people around the world. Its four divisions - Bioscience, Diagnostic, Hospital and Bio Supplies - develop, produce and market innovative solutions and services that are sold in more than 100 countries.
Pioneers in the plasma industry, Grifols operates a growing network of donation centers worldwide. It transforms collected plasma into essential medicines to treat chronic, rare and, at times, life-threatening conditions. As a recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Grifols also offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to enhance safety from donation to transfusion. In addition, the company supplies tools, information and services that enable hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare professionals to efficiently deliver expert medical care.
Grifols, with more than 24,000 employees in 30 countries and regions, is committed to a sustainable business model that sets the standard for continuous innovation, quality, safety and ethical leadership.
The company's class A shares are listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange, where they are part of the Ibex-35 (MCE:GRF). Grifols non-voting class B shares are listed on the Mercado Continuo (MCE:GRF.P) and on the U.S. NASDAQ through ADRs (NASDAQ:GRFS).
For more information, please visit www.grifols.com
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