The Netherlands-based Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation (Stichting Sanquin Bloedvoorziening) inked an agreement to provide Baxter with up to 1.6 million liters of plasma fractionation capacity annually, to support growth in demand for the latter’s plasma-derived treatments.
Baxter will pay Sanquin a fixed fee to fractionate plasma used for products to treat immune disorders, hemophilia, trauma, and other critical conditions. More specifically, Sanquin will process plasma supplied by Baxter into bulk material for Gammagard, Baxter’s plasma-derived Factor VIII/von Willebrand Factor (VWF) complex concentrate used to treat hemophilia A and von Willebrand disease with FVIII deficiency. The agreement is initially for 10 years, with production by Sanquin starting in 2014, and reaching full 1.6 million liters annually by the end of 2016.
Baxter has already this year announced plans to construct a new manufacturing facility in Georgia, to support growth of its plasma-based therapy business. Commercial production at the site is projected to start in 2018, with the new plasma fractionation facility adding up to 3 million liters of new capacity a year when fully operational.