AABB2026: AABB Welcomes Participants To 2026 Biotherapies Pavilion

AABB is pleased to welcome this year's participants to the Biotherapies Pavilion at the 2026 AABB Annual Meeting, taking place Oct. 17-19 in Atlanta. This year's participants include BBG Advanced Therapies, bioMérieux, Eurofins CellTx, Johnson & Johnson, Labcorp, Save the Cord Foundation, Versiti and Vitalant.

Located in the AABB Annual Meeting Exhibit Hall, the Biotherapies Pavilion brings together organizations and professionals from across the biotherapies field for networking, collaboration and discussions on emerging trends and challenges. The pavilion will also feature open-mic conversations led by industry experts, offering attendees opportunities to discuss key issues shaping the field.

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AABB2026: AABB Accepting Questions For ‘Ask the Standards’ Annual Meeting Session

AABB invites Annual Meeting attendees to submit questions for the “Ask the Standards” session at the 2026 AABB Annual Meeting, taking place Oct. 17-19 in Atlanta. Attendees may submit questions via email by Oct. 10.

During the session, representatives from AABB’s standards committees will provide an overview of new and changed requirements in the forthcoming 13th edition of Standards for Biotherapy Services and second edition of Standards for Emergency Prehospital and Scheduled Out-of-Hospital Transfusion Services. Representatives will discuss the scientific, clinical and regulatory rationale for the changes and how the revised requirements affect laboratory operations, transfusion services, clinical practice and quality management systems.

The session will also provide an overview of AABB’s interprofessional standards development process and an opportunity for representatives to answer questions submitted by AABB members.

Questions about any AABB standards are welcome, although representatives from other standards committees will not serve as designated speakers during the session.

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In Memoriam: Gene A. Erickson

Gene A. Erickson, former CEO of The Blood Connection and a leader in the blood community, died July 25. He was 91.

Erickson joined the Greenville Blood Assurance Plan in Greenville, S.C., in 1978, after serving as executive director of United Blood Services in Chicago. During his tenure as CEO, the organization expanded through several mergers and grew to serve the entire South Carolina Upstate and hospitals in northeast Georgia. It became The Blood Connection in 2000.

Erickson joined AABB in 1974 and went on to serve twice on the AABB Board of Directors. He also served on America's Blood Centers Board of Trustees and the American Blood Commission Board of Directors. He held leadership positions with the Administrative Section Coordinating Committee, the National Blood Resource Committee and the Public Advisory Committee, where he was the inaugural chair, and served in leadership roles with the Palmetto Blood Bankers Association and the South Carolina Hospital Association.

AABB recognized him with the Bernice Hemphill Memorial Award for his leadership at The Blood Connection and within the blood community.

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New CTMC Review Highlights Key Advances in Transfusion Medicine and Biotherapies From 2025

AABB’s Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee (CTMC) has published its annual synopsis of key developments in transfusion medicine and biotherapies throughout the past year in Transfusion.

Published annually since 2018, the review compiles original research and major clinical practice guidelines selected by committee members for their importance, originality and potential to influence practice. For the 2025 review, members of the Biotherapies Leadership Committee joined the effort for the first time.

Highlights include new trial evidence on cord blood-derived red blood cells and cold-stored platelets, updated AABB and international platelet transfusion guidelines, donor screening changes tied to long-acting HIV prophylaxis, and the expansion of CAR-T and CAR-NK therapies into autoimmune disease.

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AABB Urges CMS To Hold Off On Proposed Payment Changes for Software Analyses

AABB urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to not finalize proposed changes to the payment classification of software as a medical service (SaMS) analyses performed on laboratory tests. The proposal is part of the agency’s proposed rule for the 2027 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System.

In comments to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, AABB expressed concern that moving SaMS analyses from the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) could shift costs to beneficiaries and providers. The Association also noted that CMS is separately examining laboratories’ use of software algorithms and artificial intelligence through proposed changes to the 2027 Physician Fee Schedule and a request for information on the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). The Association said revising the payment classification of SaMS analyses before CMS completes its CLIA inquiry could result in a payment framework that does not reflect stakeholder feedback or align with the agency’s regulations.

AABB also encouraged CMS to work with the laboratory community to better understand the clinical, operational and regulatory considerations associated with SaMS analyses before changing payment policies. The Association emphasized that long-term payment approaches should reflect the complexities of algorithmic technologies in laboratory medicine while supporting access to innovative care.

Our Blood Institute, Cryoport Systems Open New Facilities

Our Blood Institute, an AABB institutional member, and Cryoport Systems, an AABB corporate partner, recently opened new facilities supporting their operations in blood and biotherapies.

Our Blood Institute held a grand opening on Aug. 11 for a new, company-owned office in north Oklahoma City, Okla. The facility brings together nearly 250 employees and serves as a central hub for departments supporting the organization’s work across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. The facility also includes cleanroom space designed to support advanced cell therapy operations.

Cryoport Systems opened its new 86,500-square-foot Global Supply Chain Center in Santa Ana, Calif., expanding its infrastructure for temperature-controlled logistics and related services supporting cell and gene therapies and other life sciences applications. The facility will eventually house BioServices, biostorage, cryopreservation and other capabilities.