Americas Blood Centers’ (ABC) is North America’s largest network of FDA-licensed, independent, non-profit community-based blood centers. Our members collect, process, and distribute over half of the blood supply in the United States. We thank the FDA and BPAC for the opportunity to present our member’s views on cold stored platelets.
The use of cold stored platelets presents challenges as well as opportunities. The most significant challenge appears to be related to the required 3-day expiration. The most significant opportunity lies in extending the expiration date to make widespread use of cold stored platelets more feasible. In order to gain more information on this important topic, ABC conducted a survey of our membership to gauge the level of interest in cold stored platelets. A total of 40 of the 46 ABC members participated in the survey, representing nearly 6.9 million collections. Currently, no member centers are manufacturing cold stored platelets, citing the 3-day expiration as the greatest challenge. Forty-three percent (43%) of participating centers are actively planning to manufacture and distribute cold stored platelets.