AABB2025: Spray-Dried Plasma May Offer Viable Alternative

Spray-dried plasma appears to be comparable in safety and potency to standard frozen plasma, according to new data presented during the oral plenary session on Sunday. The data, presented by Mark Popovsky, MD, chief medical officer of Velico Medical, was based on a study of 24 health volunteers, in which no thromboembolic events were observed.

Popovsky said the findings were important because they indicate that spray-dried plasma may offer a viable alternative for prehospital transfusions for patients at risk for hemorrhagic shock. “The product's compressible plastic packaging and ease of reconstitution may enable faster preparation and use in resuscitation of bleeding patients,” he said.

Popovsky noted that more than 25,000 Americans die each year due to bleeding and that early plasma infusion to hemorrhaging trauma patients can help improve outcomes. “Prehospital plasma availability will significantly help reduce preventable deaths among these patients,” he said. “However, the current cold chain supply and logistics model is incapable of solving this problem.”

He said spray-dried plasma – which was used during World War II and the Korean War before it was discontinued – could offer a viable alternative. His study was the first-in-human dose-escalation clinical trial evaluating a new spray-dried plasma product (Frontline ODP).

Popovsky and his colleagues enrolled 24 healthy volunteers into three dose-escalation cohorts. Following each infusion, study participants were monitored for treatment-emergent adverse events. Popovsky said all 24 participants completed the study and all infusions were well tolerated. All treatment-emergent adverse events were determined to be unrelated or unlikely related to the study product. Minor elevations in some biomarkers were observed, but none were considered clinically significant.