Pall Corporation
blood filter reduces
prions and leukocytes
15 February 2010
Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) has launched the Leukotrap
Affinity Plus Prion and Leukocyte Reduction Filter System for blood
supplies.
The new CE marked blood filter dreduces prions and leukocytes in a
single step.
Infectious prions (PRPsc) are known to be the causative agent of
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). The Pall Leukotrap
Affinity Plus System reduces PRPSC prion by more than 1000 fold on average, based
on Western blot methodology. As a primary leukocyte and prion
reduction technology, it also facilitates superior haemoglobin
recovery, to meet current EU requirements.
CE marking of the Pall Leukotrap Affinity Plus System supports
new guidance from the United Kingdom’s Advisory Committee on the
Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO), which recently
recommended pre-transfusion filtration of red blood cells to remove
prions, for children born after January 1, 1996. The guidance, which
is subject to completion of clinical trials currently underway in
Britain, is a response to the incidence of vCJD in the wake of the
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) cases in Europe.
A human form of BSE, or Mad Cow Disease, vCJD is a fatal
neurodegenerative disease which can lie dormant for many years and
for which there is no cure. Since 1996, strong evidence has
accumulated for a causal relationship between outbreaks of BSE in
cattle and vCJD in humans. Since people can incubate vCJD with no
clinical signs or symptoms of disease for decades, there is no way
to determine who or how many people may be harboring the fatal prion
nor how many of these people may be blood donors. A single
vCJD-infected blood donor has the potential to amplify
human-to-human transmission, creating the basis for a far more
widespread infection.
“We commend SaBTO for taking an important lead in securing the
UK’s blood supply from this devastating disease," said Eric
Krasnoff, Pall Chairman and CEO. "Pall's next generation Leukotrap
System reflects our ongoing commitment to advancing blood safety and
availability. It builds on Pall’s legacy of innovation as the
originator of leukocyte filtration."
Roberto Perez, President, Pall Life Sciences added, “Our goal is
to help blood centers and hospitals enhance their ability to provide
patients with access to the safest blood possible for transfusions.
We do this by developing innovative technologies that they can
efficiently and economically put into practice. This new product
which simultaneously accomplishes prion filtration and leukocyte
reduction brings us another step closer to this shared goal."