Uncontrolled haemorrhage is one of the leading causes of death. This issue is present in controlled environments, such as hospitals, as well as pre-hospital and remote locations. Treatment is more challenging in remote locations where there is a lack of effective products to deliver oxygen and control coagulation. Poorly treated haemorrhage can lead to rapidly deteriorating bodily conditions that can result in organ failure and tissue death. Thus, the availability of products to support oxygen delivery to tissues and coagulation processes within the body is essential for the effective treatment of severe haemorrhage, particularly in out-of-the-hospital settings. The presence of such products would fill the gap that is currently present in emergency treatment. Promising results of an ex-vivo study on a novel haemoglobin-based oxygen carrier OxyVita®C with coagulation capacity (OVCCC) are presented in this article. The proprietary protein protection technology allows for the powderization of protein components without changes in their characteristics and physiological activity. This technology was applied to the oxygen carrier OxyVita®C, to plasma and to platelets. The functionality of all tested components, as well as a mixture of OxyVita®C and platelets, was studied. The results suggest future clinical trials investigating the powderization of OVCCC, plasma and platelets are warranted. The development of this powderization method offers a huge advancement into a field in which no viable products exist.
Keywords: Blood substitute; HBOC; OxyVita®C; lyophilization; powderized plasma; powderized platelets; spray-drying.