The Finnish Red Cross has developed an innovation that utilizes excess blood plasma. The result is a new active protein that binds iron and carries it back for the production of red cells. The innovation received the Finnish chemical industry's innovation award for 2002.

Free iron accumulates in the blood system of seriously ill patients. This causes damage to organs and may predispose them to bacterial and fungal attacks. A preparation that prevents the harmful effects of free iron and a safe method of producing it are a breakthrough in an area for which there is no safe and effective means of treatment. An innovation received the Finnish chemical industry's innovation award. The winning solution was developed by the Finnish Red Cross's Blood Transfusion Service. It provides an answer to a current medical problem. The product that has been developed is new; it has been patented; and it has considerable market potential.

The Blood Transfusion Service develops and produces plasma derivatives. Research and development work is targeted at making good use of the natural proteins for illnesses in which the system's own defence mechanisms are inadequate for preventing damage to organs. Blood plasma has numerous proteins that affect the well-being of a person's system. The Blood Transfusion Service has developed a safe and cost-effective production method for several plasma proteins.

The development of the new protein is linked with preventing the harmful effects of iron. Most of the iron in the system is contained in the red cells' haemoglobin, from where it is released as the cells become old. A protein called transferrin carries the iron to the bone marrow to form new red cells. In certain illnesses the carrying mechanism does not work, and considerable amounts of free iron accumulate quickly in the blood. This iron damages the tissues and may predispose to inflammation caused by fungi and bacteria. Treating them is a growing problem in patients who are seriously ill.

The award-winning technology utilizes the excess plasma from blood donors once the other proteins that are valuable for treatment purposes have been separated from the plasma. In the production the transferrin is purified in conditions in which the iron that is bound to it comes loose. The production method also includes an effective treatment that destroys viruses. The product is pure and safe iron-free transferrin and is called apotransferrin. This product then binds the free iron that is in the patient's blood system.

A patent has been granted for the new preparation and its production method in Finland and the United States. About 60 kg. of pure apotransferrin can be produced from the blood plasma collected in Finland. If the new method of treatment proves to be effective, the need for the preparation worldwide would be considerable. In Europe and the United States there are thousands of patients. The first tests on patients using the preparation have been carried out in Finland, and the tests will continue in order to clarify its effectiveness as a treatment.

Finnish Blood Transfusion Service

Donating blood in Finland is voluntary and unpaid. The Blood Transfusion Service of the Finnish Red Cross operates nationally. Blood can be donated at 21 fixed premises or mobile teams arrange about 1,000 blood donations annually all over the country.

The Blood Transfusion Service of the Finnish Red Cross is independent both in terms of its finances and operations. It produces different blood preparations from blood that has been donated and sends them to hospitals. In Finland the system is centralized: the hospitals' own blood stocks are small and they order blood from the Service daily.

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