Advocacy group concerned pay-for-plasma clinics expanding to Ontario will hurt voluntary donations

A group that advocates for a voluntary blood supply is concerned clinics that pay people to donate plasma are expanding to Ontario over the next year,through a partnership between Canadian Blood Servicesanda private Spanish company.

Three clinics in total in Whitby, Hamilton and Cambridge are set to open between 2024 and 2025, with two more being planned for yet-to-be-determined locations.

The plans build on a15-year agreement signed in 2022betweenCanadian Blood Services (CBS)and privatepharmaceutical company Grifols toboost thenational blood plasma supply.

BloodWatch,a non-profit organization that advocatesfor a safe andvoluntarydonation system, said pay-for-plasma clinics area "dangerous field."

"We have to become more self-sufficient and there's no reason Canadian Blood Services can'topen five additional plasma sites in order to collect that plasma," executive director Kat Lanteignetold CBC News.

WATCH | Canadian Blood Services and its partnership with private company:

Canadian Blood Services considers partnerships for paid plasma collection

2 years ago

Duration 2:11

Canadian Blood Services is considering partnering with private firms that pay for plasma donations to help with a lack of adequate plasma supply.

Plasma is the yellow liquid that makes up the majority of the body's blood volume. It'srich in proteins that play a vital role in creating medications to treat many conditions, includingimmune deficiencies, CBS'swebsite says.

The process for donating plasma issimilar togivingblood.

In plasma donation,however, blood components are separatedthrough a technique calledapheresis, during which blood passes through a special machinethat collects plasma and returns the other blood components into the donor's body.

Other provinces with privateplasma clinics

The planned clinics in Ontario will be run by the Spanish companyGrifols,which will pay for plasma donations "as per their operating model," Canadian Blood Services said in an email to CBC News.

"Grifols will then use that plasma to make immunoglobulins for purchase by Canadian Blood Services only. None of the immunoglobulins can be sold offshore," CBS said.

It says aglobal shortage of immunoglobulins(antibodies that are extracted from plasma to make life-saving medications) makes itcritical for countries to increase their plasma collections.

Paid plasma clinics operating in Winnipeg and cities inSaskatchewan,AlbertaandNew Brunswickare run by Grifols andCanadian Plasma Resources.

In 2023,an agreement was signed that would see Grifolsacquire centresrun by Canadian Plasma Resources by the end of 2025.

It's not clear how much plasma donorsat the Ontario clinics will be paid. The website for Canadian Plasma Resources says up to $70 is offeredand people candonate twice in every seven-day period.

LanteignesaidBloodWatch is concernedaboutvulnerable people selling their plasma for cash and the impact pay-for-plasma clinics may have on companieswith alternative immunoglobulin therapy options.

"Competition in plasma-derived productsiscritical for patient access," she said. "As new products come to the market, what Canadian Blood Services has done is locked us in a 15-year contract when other products on the market could be available."

Lawpreventing paid blood plasmahas exemption

CBS manages the country's blood supply, except in Quebec, where it's Hma-Qubec's role.

Ontario,B.C. and Quebec don't allow payments to blood and plasma donors,through each province'sVoluntary Blood Donations Act.

CBS is exempted from the act.

"The agreement [with Grifols] also complies with Ontario'sVoluntary Blood Donations Act, which has always contained an exemption for Canadian Blood Services with implicit consideration of our agents, given our role as the national blood operator and supplier of blood products in Canada," Canadian Blood Services said.

"Through our agreement, Grifols will operate under the act as an agent of Canadian Blood Services."

In Ontario, the act passed unanimously in the Legislature in 2014.

Alana Cattapan is Canada Research Chair in the politics of reproduction and an assistant professor in political science at the University of Waterloo

Cattapansaid that at the time the exemption to CBS was under debate in the Legislature,several MPPsfeared it would allowprivate for-profit buying of plasma and eventually violate the spirit of the act.

A spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Health said CBS's network of blood and plasma donor centres remains voluntary.

"Our government will continue to monitor the decisions of Canadian Blood Services to ensure it delivers a secure supply of plasma protein products to Ontarians," the spokesperson said.

Blood agency aims for better plasma goals in Canada

CBScurrently relies on plasma donations to meet national demand and collects about 15 per cent of what's needed, according to its website. The remaining 85 per cent is purchased from the global market.

Peter Jaworski,a Canadian scholar, isassociate professorat Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and an adjunct professor atVirginia School of Law.

He saidpaid clinicscould help Canada become more self-sufficient.

Jaworskisaid the U.S.supplies 65 to 68 per cent of the plasma used to manufacture therapies globally.

"Canada has been around80 per cent dependent on plasma collected in the U.S. since at least2012," he said.

"We've depended on people who donateplasma in the U.S. to companies like Grifols, where they are paid for their plasma donation."

CBS saiditspartnership with Grifols will help themreach atarget of 50 per cent in getting plasma in this country in shorter time.