This welcome development is the result of a strong and effective collaboration between NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and industry partner, Octapharma, to help ensure patients reliant on plasma-derived medicines can access the treatments they need.

It’s in the blood

Plasma makes up more than half of your blood and contains infection-fighting antibodies that can be processed into medicines.

These plasma-derived medicines, including immunoglobulin and albumin are used to treat a range of conditions in the hospital and at home. These include patients with immune deficiencies, neurological conditions and those suffering from severe trauma in emergency situations.

Immunoglobulin can also play a crucial role in treating inflammatory diseases, and as a renal medicine consultant specialising in kidney care, I’ve seen the importance of plasma-derived medicines first-hand.

Building resilience of supply 

Until now, the UK has been reliant on importing these medicines from around the globe, with most of the supply coming from the USA. This was due to a 1998 ban on the use of UK plasma to manufacture medicinal products as a precautionary measure against variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease (vCJD), a human condition linked to mad cow disease.

The historic reliance on imported products had, at times, left the UK vulnerable to disruptions in the volatile global supply chain.

NHS colleagues have shown great agility in clinical practice and commercial procurement to mitigate the impact of supply pressures on the continuity of patient care for the more-than 15,000 people that rely on plasma medicines. But managing frequent issues that can emerge, often at short notice, are time-consuming for staff and can cause unwanted anxiety for patients.

That’s why it was such good news that after a safety review by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the ban on immunoglobulin manufacture using UK plasma was lifted in 2021 – and in 2023, the MHRA also gave the green-light for albumin to again be made with UK donations. 

Securing a commercial partner

In 2021, NHS England was tasked by DHSC to lead the procurement to find a supplier to process UK-donated plasma to develop medicines the NHS could use. The specialist process is called fractionation – separating donated blood plasma into the separate parts needed to make different medicines.

After a thorough and transparent process to appoint a fractionator, Octapharma, a world-leading supplier of plasma-derived medicines, was selected.

It’s important to note that plasma-derived medicines made from UK-donated plasma are no different to the imported international medicines we have previously relied on and will continue to need, to ensure we have enough of these vital therapies to meet a growing patient demand.

More than 250,000 litres of plasma provided by volunteer donors across the UK has already been collected by NHSBT and shipped to Octapharma’s manufacturing facilities in Europe to make these crucial medicines. The finished products arrived back in the UK last month and are now being distributed to hospitals across the country.

A new framework for immunoglobulin

Alongside the introduction of a new supply of plasma-derived medicines from UK donors, from 1 April 2025 NHS England will update the range of immunoglobulin products to be offered to NHS patients, following an open procurement exercise for a new framework – the list of medicines that NHS staff can provide.

This new framework ensures the NHS can supply effective immunoglobulin to patients and ensures the best value for money for taxpayers. In the short term, this will mean some patients being switched to a new medicine – that could be a UK product. It’s important for patients to be reassured that all patients, including those switching from one product to another, will be supplied with a safe, clinically equivalent medicine. For those rare patients who may have difficulty switching, clinicians will support patients to ensure they are still able to receive the treatment they need.

Ensuring patient access to medicines

Through the completion of a hugely successful and collaborative programme to bring plasma-derived medicines from UK donors to our frontline services and the introduction of a new framework for immunoglobulin, the NHS is set up, with greater stability, to supply these treatments to patients for years to come.

I am looking forward to visiting a hospital in Hertfordshire this week to see some of the first patients receive UK product and am delighted that the treatment and care of NHS patients, who are reliant on these medicines, is now firmly in our own hands – thanks in no small part to the arms of thousands of UK donors.

Steve