Blood Donations Screened for Viruses Using Multiplex Assay

A global healthcare company was chosen to partner the Japanese Red Cross (JRC; Tokyo, Japan) for nucleic acid screening of the nation's blood supply.

Under the terms of the 7-year agreement, the healthcare company, Grifols (Barcelona, Spain) will provide the JRC with its newest automation platform, the Procleix Panther System and associated assays. These assays will be used to screen blood donations for HIV and Hepatitis viruses prior to their release for medical use.

The JRC will use the Procleix Panther platform to screen approximately 5.3 million blood donations each year. Gifols was selected by the JRC after an extensive in-house evaluation of commercially available systems against a range of performance criteria, including the efficiency of testing each blood donor sample separately (called individual donor testing, or IDT) rather than in pools.

IDT will be performed using the Procleix Ultrio Elite assay for detection of HIV Types 1 and 2 and Hepatitis virus Types B and C in a single multiplex assay. In addition, the JRC will address emerging concerns about Hepatitis E virus (HEV) by testing donations in the Hokkaido region with the new Procleix HEV assay.

The fully automated Procleix Panther system has a very small footprint, simple touch-screen operation, the ability to test samples as they arrive in the lab (continuous loading), or in batches. The system also features immediate access to results as they become available, simplified daily start- up, reporting of results directly to the laboratory information system (LIS), and automated scheduled maintenance. In addition to the Procleix Elite and Procleix HEV assays, the system can run the Procleix WNV assay for detection of West Nile virus.

Grifols develops plasma medicines, diagnostics systems, and hospital pharmacy products. With a network of 150 plasma donor centers in the US, Grifols produces plasma-derived biological medicines. It also provides a comprehensive range of transfusion medicine, hemostasis, and immunoassay solutions for clinical laboratories, blood banks and transfusion centers.
The Japanese Red Cross Society, in cooperation with the national government and local authorities, promotes nation-wide blood donation to ensure a continuous supply of the blood products that are essential for medical treatment. Through the cooperation of approximately 5.3 million people, the JRC secures required quantities of blood products and delivers them to medical institutions across the country. The donated blood saves approximately 1.2 million people annually.

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Japanese Red Cross 
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