The ongoing revision of the European legislation on blood, tissues, and cells offers an opportunity to tackle the highly problematic dependency on plasma collected in the US for manufacturing plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs), according to an EU health official.
The head of the sector for substances of human origin at the Commission’s DG SANTE, Stefaan Van der Spiegel, recalled at a recent virtual event how Europe excessively depends on US plasma imports.
“Europe and the whole planet is quite dependent on the plasma collected in the US. That means that 5% of the world population is collecting 60% of plasma,” he said.