Egypt to sign contract with private firm to process donated plasma

CAIRO – 4 August 2022: The Cabinet approved Thursday a contract between the Ministry of Health and Population, and Grifols Egypt for Plasma Derivatives to process the plasma collected at the designated public facilities.

The Egyptian Armed Forces and Spain’s Grifols, a Spanish leading producer of plasma-derived medicines, inaugurated in October the first integrated plasma collection center in Africa and the Middle East in the 6th of October city, Giza.

The center aims at achieving self-sufficiency in plasma-derived biological medicines, a statement by the Egyptian Army spokesman said.

The center is an integrated complex that includes a plasma donation center, a laboratory for testing plasma samples, and a training center affiliated with the Grifols training academy, the statement read.

A month earlier, the Ministry of Health and Population revealed that affiliated blood plasma donation centers nationwide had received as many as 4,400 donors since July 14, when they were officially launched.

In mid-July, the minister announced a national project to establish blood plasma donation centers for medicine production as a part of a presidential initiative to achieve self-sufficiency in plasma derivatives.
 

The project seeks to ensure the availability of treatment for many chronic diseases, including liver and kidney diseases, and burns, Assistant Health Minister for Information and Community.
 

The ministry had set up six plasma donation centers in five governorates, the first of which was opened in Ehab Serag El-Din Center for blood transfusion services in Giza’s Al-Agouza district.
 

Other plasma donation venues include the regional blood transfusion centers in Cairo’s Dar El-Salam and Abbasiya districts, Alexandria, Gharbiya and Minya. Further, the introduction of 20 more centers is underway.
 

Healthy adults over the age of 18 may donate their blood plasma if they had not donated within the last three months.

The project, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is meant to encourage recovered coronavirus patients to donate blood plasma after it proved to be effective in treating coronavirus cases.