The Obama administration is moving to reduce the spread of the Zika virus and other diseases through blood transfusions, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday.
A California company, Cerus Corp., will conduct clinical trials of its Intercept system under a three-year, $30.8 million agreement with HHS. About one-third of the money will be used to evaluate the safety of the blood system in Puerto Rico, which had almost 1,400 cases of Zika as of June 15.
The Food and Drug Administration already approved a different version of the system, which reduces infection through platelet and plasma transfusions. However, the new system is aimed at treating red blood cells.
HHS also approved a two-and-a-half-year, $17.5 million agreement with Terumo BCT Technologies to determine the effectiveness of the company’s Mirasol System, which reduces bacteria and other pathogens in red blood cells, platelets and plasma.
While both contracts could be extended, the agency’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is keeping an option to fund tests that determine the system’s effectiveness specifically against the Zika virus.
Both systems have been proven to reduce the presence of certain pathogens to varying degrees, HHS said. “The technologies can reduce the risk of transmitting emerging infectious diseases for which robust screening [of blood donors] and testing methods may not yet be available.”
That could be be useful not only in fighting the Zika virus, but also in preventing the spread of other diseases and viruses, the agency said.
