Cultured Red Blood Cells
Advantages of cRBCs
Owing to their ex vivo production conditions, cultured red blood cells (cRBC) have numerous advantages over donated red blood cells.
Greater transfusion efficacy
The lifespan of a cultured red blood cell (cRBC) population is longer than for a native red blood cell population: all cRBCs are young, unlike native RBCs with heterogeneous ages. This is a key factor which results in greater transfusion efficacy.This will reduce the number of transfusions, and therefore:
- improve quality of life in patients requiring multiple transfusions.
- reduce treatment costs.
Reduced immunization risk
At present, the demand for fully compatible RBC is not always met.
Donor screening based on the main blood group systems will offer solutions for situations in which transfusion is impossible, by reducing the risks of alloimmunization in the populations concerned.
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Minimization of infection risk
Reducing the number of different donors will lower the risk of pathogen transmission.
Constant availability
For instance: during the Covid-19 pandemic, blood collection has fallen by 30 to 60%.
Hematopoietic stem cells are frozen and stored for several years, allowing production to be adjusted based on demand.