Kawasumi To Market Pall's eBDS in Japan

Pall Corporation have announced that it has finalized an agreement for Kawasumi Laboratories, Inc. to become the exclusive provider of the Pall eBDS (enhanced Bacterial Detection System) in Japan.

Bacterial contamination of platelets is the number one infectious cause of morbidity and mortality from a blood transfusion. Bacteria contaminate anywhere from one in 2,000 to one in 5,000 platelets collected worldwide. The number of platelet collections in Japan is about 780,000 annually. This agreement is the latest in a ten-year long relationship between the two companies. Kawasumi, a leading provider of medical devices and pharmaceuticals for blood banking, uses only Pall leukocyte (white blood cell) reduction filters in its blood collection and transfusion systems and is Pall’s exclusive route to market for these filters in such systems in Japan.

Under the new agreement, Pall is also receiving milestone payments to correspond with providing Kawasumi scientific and technical support to help it bring the technology to market in Japan. Kawasumi will submit the product to the Japanese regulatory authority (MoHLW), whose approval process often mirrors that of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA cleared the Pall eBDS for marketing in January 2004. The eBDS is also approved by Health Canada, the Canadian regulatory authority, and is CE marked for use throughout Europe.

More than 30 U.S. blood centers, one of Canada’s largest hospitals, plus four blood centers throughout Europe and the Middle East have already incorporated the Pall eBDS as part of their routine standard of practice.