Meeting the Demand for Unrelated Donors in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Adaptations by the National Marrow Donor Program and Its Network Partners Ensured a Safe Supply of Donor Products

Demand and usage of unrelated donor products for allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry analysis

“…Although the continued demand for new searches for adult unrelated donors highlights the ongoing needs of patients despite the pandemic, it underscores the perceived importance of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) matching on patient outcomes. Other recent reports outline the steps taken by adult registries to meet the ongoing demand for unrelated donors during the pandemic and describe a reduction in the use of bone marrow, an increased usage of domestic donors, more work‐up requests in case backup donations were needed, and more donor cancellations attributed to COVID‐19 [ 8 , 9 ]. The increased focus on domestic donors reflects considerations related to constraints on donor travel to hospitals, collection centre staff, courier arrangements, and cryopreservation requirements.…”

“…This allowed the centres to continue with unrelated donor collections and defer the infusion of the cells until a later date, if necessary. Although the impact of the pandemic on adult registries and cord blood banks have been reported [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], the impact of COVID‐19 on the demand and usage of unrelated donors for Canadian centres has not been described. Given the regional differences in public health measures during the pandemic, understanding the changes in donor usage in Canada is important to optimize services that support patients and transplant centres as the pandemic evolves and to better prepare for possible future threats.…”

“…These data support the substantial value to HCT centres and their patients of maintaining a national registry of adult unrelated donors and a public inventory of high-quality CBUs during this pandemic.Although the continued demand for new searches for adult unrelated donors highlights the ongoing needs of patients despite the pandemic, it underscores the perceived importance of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) matching on patient outcomes. Other recent reports outline the steps taken by adult registries to meet the ongoing demand for unrelated donors during the pandemic and describe a reduction in the use of bone marrow, an increased usage of domestic donors, more work-up requests in case backup donations were needed, and more donor cancellations attributed to COVID-19[8,9].…”

Secondary Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 19 Pandemic on Patients and the Cellular Therapy Healthcare Ecosystem

“…Data following the onset of COVID-19 compared to the immediate three months before the onset of the pandemic demonstrated that the NMDP was able to convert patient cycles (from the time of preliminary search initiation to graft infusion) at nearly the same or higher rates over a similar or shorter period. Furthermore, despite travel restrictions and interruptions to domestic courier services, graft products were delivered to transplant centers at similar rates before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic 38 . In contrast, the DKMS experience demonstrated a reduction in donors by 15.9% worldwide with a decreased number of bone marrow product donations.…”

Red blood cell depletion in small‐volume bone marrow processing using manipulation with third‐party red blood cells: A comparison of the performance of the COBE spectra and the spectra Optia systems

“…4 However, during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, cryopreservation of allogeneic grafts before the initiation of conditioning has been recommended to reduce the risk that recipients are unable to receive fresh donor cells as scheduled due to donor or recipient infection or due to disrupted transport routes. 5,6 Different manual or semiautomated techniques are used for RBC depletion before ABO-incompatible transplantation or cryopreservation; these include gravity sedimentation with hydroxyethyl starch (HES) [7][8][9] or dextran, 10 the addition of third-party RBCs to buffy coat, 11,12 and Ficoll-Hypaque used together with blood cell separators. 2,[13][14][15] Bone marrow processing using cell separation devices has recently been developed.…”