Production of Antihemophilic Factor in France

The ability of the French national blood transfusion system to provide self‐sufficiency for therapeutic coagulation factors is discussed. Adjustment to the rapidly increasing demand in both quality and quantity of Factor VIII is not toally met. Approximately 60 per cent of the total consumption corresponds to concentrate mostly of intermediate purity and one half of this is imported. Although enough blood is collected to provide the plasma required to cover the demand, the logistic of plasma separation and the extensive use of fresh frozen plasma as plasma expander make the starting plasma for Factor VIII preparation in short supply. The development of voluntary plasmapheresis, optimization of the use of blood components, systematic collection of cryoprecipitate from each plasma unit and improvement of quality of starting plasma are necessary to achieve self‐sufficiency.