Plasma supply

A safe and sustainable supply of plasma is essential to ensure patients across Europe have access to plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs), which are vital for the treatment of chronic life-threatening diseases such as haemophilia or primary immunodeficiencies, among others. The European Committee on Blood Transfusion (CD-P-TS) supports member states and stakeholders in strengthening plasma supply continuity through standard-setting, co-ordination and strategic initiatives.

Our role

The CD-P-TS contributes to strengthening plasma supply in Europe by:

  • developing and maintaining European standards for safe plasma donation and collection through the Guide to the preparation, use and quality assurance of blood components (the “Blood Guide”);
  • monitoring plasma supply trends through data collection and reporting;
  • supporting stakeholder collaboration, including dialogue between national authorities, blood establishments, clinicians, patient groups and other partners;
  • promoting good practices to improve donor protection, plasma collection and supply sustainability.

Supporting sustainable plasma supply

The CD-P-TS facilitates co-operation and knowledge exchange to help countries strengthen their national plasma programmes and improve supply resilience. 

Plasma Supply Management Symposium

A key milestone in this work was the Plasma Supply Management Symposium, jointly organised by the EDQM and the European Commission in January 2019. The symposium reviewed the scientific evidence related to plasma collection for fractionation, including donor eligibility criteria and donor protection. It resulted in published proceedings and a set of stakeholder recommendations identifying concrete actions to increase the availability of plasma for fractionation in Europe.

EDQM stakeholder event – Plasma Supply Continuity

This major stakeholder event held in March 2025 brought together key actors from across Europe to identify priorities and define practical action to support plasma supply continuity. The outcomes of this work are informing ongoing and future initiatives, including the development of policy recommendations and technical guidance to support member states in securing sustainable plasma and PDMP supply.

 Download the report from this event: Increasing and improving plasma collection in Europe

Targeted initiatives

The CD-P-TS also supports targeted initiatives, such as efforts to increase anti-D plasma collection and co-ordinating stakeholder discussions on plasma supply challenges and solutions.

  See also: Anti-D Immunoglobulin 

Through its ongoing work, the CD-P-TS will continue to:

  • support co-ordination and collaboration across Europe;
  • promote best practices and sustainable plasma collection programmes;
  • contribute to the development of guidance to support national action on plasma supply continuity.

These efforts aim to strengthen the long-term availability of plasma and PDMPs, helping to ensure that patients across Europe continue to receive the treatments they need.