Agreement to manufacture immunoglobulins for patients in Canada
Key information:
- None of the plasma collected at Canadian Blood Services' donation centres is being used to make medicine that is being sold in other countries - including albumin.
- Every drop of blood and plasma that is collected by Canadian Blood Services is used exclusively for Canadian patients.
- There is a global shortage of immunoglobulins, a lifesaving medicine for thousands of Canadian patients, that is made from plasma. Canadian Blood Services is working to ensure a consistent and reliable supply of this critical medicine. Through our agreement with Grifols, we are creating Canada’s first-ever domestic supply chain for immunoglobulins, exclusively for patients in this country.
- All immunoglobulins manufactured from plasma collected by Canadian Blood Services, as well as by Grifols, who collects plasma on our behalf, must remain in Canada for Canadian patients - boosting our domestic sufficiency.
- With any plasma manufactured into immunoglobulins, there are byproducts leftover that can be used to make another kind of medicine called albumin. There is no global shortage of albumin and Canada has a sufficient supply thanks to the generosity of Canadian Blood Services’ plasma donors.
- Grifols operates their own plasma donation centres, and the excess byproducts from the manufacturing of immunoglobulins from their plasma donors is being used to make albumin that is then being sold to other countries.
- Given we have plenty of albumin already in Canada, these byproducts would be otherwise wasted. But there is a need for this lifesaving medicine for patients in other countries.
- Our agreement with Grifols allows for these otherwise wasted byproducts to help patients in other countries as well as offset the cost of manufacturing immunoglobulins for Canadian patients.
Detailed information
In 2022 Canadian Blood Services announced a plan to ensure patients in Canada continue to have long-term access to immunoglobulins—the most widely used medication made from plasma. Our plan includes an agreement with Grifols, a global healthcare company and leader in producing plasma medicines, to manufacture immunoglobulins in Canada, exclusively for patients in Canada.
This agreement was established as part of our strategy to address the ongoing global shortage of immunoglobulins and risks to cross-border supply chains. The purpose of the agreement is to secure long-term access to immunoglobulins for patients in Canada. For many patients, immunoglobulins are lifesaving therapies.
Every unit of plasma collected by Grifols in Canada is collected for the benefit of Canadians, and pursuant to the agreement with Canadian Blood Services, is manufactured into immunoglobulins for Canadian patients.
Manufacturing plasma into immunoglobulins results in leftover byproducts containing proteins and other substances that were present in the plasma. These byproducts can be used to produce medicines, such as albumin. When these byproducts are not used to make medicines, they are discarded as biological waste.
Canadian Blood Services has been meeting Canada’s demand for albumin so we agreed in early 2025 that, as a prudent measure, we would sell Grifols the byproducts that are leftover when immunoglobulins are manufactured from plasma Grifols collects on our behalf in Canada. These byproducts would otherwise be discarded.
Instead Grifols can use the byproducts to create albumin which will help patients in other countries, because Canada's needs for these medicines are already being met. Canada benefits from this, as the sale of the byproducts to Grifols offsets the cost Canadian Blood Services pays for immunoglobulins manufactured by Grifols.
Currently, Grifols is producing immunoglobulins from plasma they have collected in Canada at their manufacturing plant in Clayton, North Carolina. Recently, they began sending the byproducts from immunoglobulin manufacturing to their new facility in Montreal where they are now able to produce albumin as their first phase of operations.
Construction is still underway on Grifols’ plasma fractionation and immunoglobulin purification and filling facility in Montreal.
Once construction is complete, and they receive their license from Health Canada to manufacture immunoglobulins at the Montreal plant, production for Canadian Blood Services will move to Grifols’ Canadian manufacturing plant in Montreal.
Through our agreement, we are creating Canada’s first-ever domestic supply chain for immunoglobulins, exclusively for patients in this country. This is an important step in securing the supply of immunoglobins in Canada.
Canadian Blood Services’ agreement with Grifols is part of our larger plan to strengthen Canada’s supply of plasma and immunoglobulins. To achieve this growth, Canadian Blood Services has been actively increasing our own plasma collection through funding provided by governments.
Since 2020 Canadian Blood Services has opened ten plasma donor centres, with the most recent opening in Thunder Bay in April 2025. Another new centre is planned for 2026/2027. Additionally, we continue to collect plasma at many of our blood donor centres across the country and are working to collect more plasma within our existing network.
From the time of entering into our agreement with Grifols, we have reported an increase in domestic immunoglobulin sufficiency from approximately 15 per cent to 27 per cent, as of the end of fiscal year 2024-2025. At the same time, demand for immunoglobulins has increased by 10 per cent. Of this year’s reported 27 per cent sufficiency, 17 per cent was achieved through Canadian Blood Services’ collections, with Grifols collections contributing an additional 10 per cent.