Blood Product Supply in Germany: The Impact of Apheresis and Pooled Platelet Concentrates

Background: In Germany, about 60% of all produced platelet concentrates (PCs) are apheresis PCs (APCs). Ongoing discussions on APC reimbursement and costs might lead to a potential shift in pooled PC (PPC)/APC production. Objective of this analysis was to build a comprehensive model from the societal perspective to evaluate consequences associated with shifts in platelet supply and demand. Methods: Literature search, desktop researches on platelet supply and demand. Model calculations, time horizon one year: model input from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, data 2013. Base case: 19.2% of annual whole blood donations (WBDs) were used for production of 38.5% PPCs, decay of 46,218 PCs (8.0%). Scenarios calculated: variation in PPC proportion of 10-100%. Results: Base case: during PPC production 41,957-83,913 red blood cell concentrates (RBCCs) are estimated to be lost, which corresponds to 1-2% of annual RBCCs in Germany. Scenarios were calculated for a production of 60-100% PPCs: loss is estimated to be 1.5-5.0% of annual RBCCs (65,430-218,099), decay 54,189-69,022 PCs (9.4-12.0%). Conclusion: Production of different blood components is interlinked and sensitive to unidimensional decisions. Increasing PPC proportion has negative impact on the RBCC production and on the antigen-matched APC donor pool. Completion of the model calculations to predict the optimal PPC/APC proportion would require evidence on the number of refractory patients, donor pool sizes, and incidences of diseases requiring platelet transfusions.