Greifswald scientists can restore transfusion safety in new drugs

Scientist of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the Greifswald University Medical Center under the direction of Senior Physician Dr. med. Kathleen Selleng has now found a way to prevent the drug from binding to red blood cells. The prestigious "The New England Journal of Medicine" has released the promising solution today.

The drug, which has high hopes in patients with leukemia, is Daratumumab (Darzalex®) manufactured by the company. Janssen Cilag, a member of the Johnson & Johnson global healthcare company. Undesirable binding properties disrupt blood group determinations and all necessary compatibility studies prior to blood transfusion. Laboratory tests before blood transfer give poor results. However, patients with blood cancer often require blood transfusions during treatment. This is precisely why the new drug has led to great difficulties.

"We cut a piece of daratumumab antibody with the help of enzymes and loaded the red blood cells on the remaining fragment.As a result, the drug in the patient's blood n & # 39; 39; was no longer able to bind to red blood cells because the binding site was already occupied by the fragments, "says the project manager Dr. Med Kathleen Selleng the procedure." For us, it is a success resounding for the transfusion safety of these patients. Thus, blood group determination and pre-blood test examinations for these patients can again be performed as quickly and reliably as for all other patients. The method also has the advantage of being able to also be used for other drugs of the same group of substances that are still under development, "said the transfusion physician

* The New England Journal of Medicine
2) Fragments to overcome intestinal disbadembly in transfusion tests
DOI: 10.1056 / NEJMc1804751 –

Photo UMG / Jan Wesche:
Greifswald's main doctors Transfusion medicine Dr. med. Kathleen Selleng (left) and Dr. Thomas Thiele, here with Polish PhD student Patrycja D. Gebicka, found a solution to the problems of a new drug for blood cancer patients.

University Medical Center Greifswald
Department of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine
Head of the Department of Transfusion Medicine: Prof. Dr. Med Med Andreas Greinacher
F leischmannstrbade 8, 17475 Greifswald
T +49 3834 86-54 82
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