Photo by Cristina Granados
Bags of plasma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted breakthrough device designation for pathogen-reduced cryoprecipitate manufactured from plasma treated with the INTERCEPT Blood System.
Cerus Corporation aims to seek FDA approval for this pathogen-reduced cryoprecipitate to treat massive hemorrhage.
“The proposed label indication for pathogen-reduced cryoprecipitate would be to control massive bleeding associated with fibrinogen deficiency,” said Laurence Corash, chief scientific officer of Cerus.
The proposed shelf life for pathogen-reduced cyroprecipitate is 5 days at room temperature.
The INTERCEPT Blood System is already FDA-approved for the inactivation of pathogens in platelets and plasma.
“Cryo[precipitate] is a natural extension to our current FDA-approved INTERCEPT Blood System for plasma,” said William “Obi” Greenman, president and chief executive officer of Cerus.
If the FDA granted approval, INTERCEPT-treated plasma could be manufactured into pathogen-reduced cryoprecipitate.
About breakthrough device designation
The FDA says it grants breakthrough designation to devices “that provide more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating human diseases or conditions.”
Breakthrough designation is intended to expedite the development, assessment, and review of medical devices. The breakthrough devices program supersedes the FDA’s expedited access pathway and priority review programs.