Artificial Blood MarketSize and Trends

Artificial blood is an artificially developed substitute for red blood cells. For decades, scientists have been trying to develop artificial blood from various sources and through different methods to address the shortage of blood for transfusions. Inadequate number of blood donors and the criticality of blood-type rejection have encouraged researchers to develop artificial blood, thus reducing the dependency on blood donors.

Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) is a standard and indispensable therapy for anemic conditions. Blood transfusion process has progressed through various developments, including development of acid-citrate-dextrose blood preservation solution, and cloning of ABO gene. However, blood transfusion come with a high risk of infections. Recombinant erythropoietin stimulating agent therapy has been the prominent therapy in cases such as chronic kidney disease, and chronic anemic conditions. Yet in thrombotic and neoplastic complications, blood transfusion is the only option. Hence, RBC production from hematopoietic stem cells has been the focus of regenerative therapy, with major players investing billions of dollars in R&D related to this technique. However, the final product is yet to receive U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

Artificial Blood Market Development

There has been significant progress made in the global artificial blood market with respect to finding a suitable method to produce blood cells. Scientists have been trying to develop artificial blood from diverse molecules ranging from perfluorocarbons to hemoglobin. With the advent of research in stem cells, researchers began to develop RBCs from stem cells of cord blood. The enrollment for the first clinical trials of stem-cell based red blood cells began in 2009. This study used stem cells from cord blood and adult bone marrow. The study was conducted at the Hematological Laboratory at the University of Paris VI.

A similar research conducted by scientists at the University of Bristol and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) using stem cells from adult and umbilical cord blood has shown successful results from initial studies. The study is scheduled to enter clinical trials with 20 subjects in 2017. The focus of these trials is to provide special treatment for specific patient groups, rather than act as complete replacement for blood.