Supporting the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients through Donation of Scinomed Plasma Collection Machines to St. Luke’s Medical Center

25 June 2020 - Getz Healthcare Philippines is pleased to support St. Luke’s Medical Center’s Convalescent Plasma Therapy (CPT) Program for the treatment of COVID-19 patients through the donation of two (2) Scinomed Plasma Collection Machines (iPCM) and corresponding consumables worth PHP 4.3M.

The collection of convalescent plasma is currently being used by St. Luke’s in the treatment of severe or critically ill patients suffering from COVID-19.

“At Getz Healthcare, our purpose is to introduce new products that will help improve the health and quality of life of the Filipino people. As such, we are delighted to be in a position to be able to donate the Scinomed machines and contribute to the country’s fight against Covid-19. Convalescent Plasma Therapy is an established therapy for serious viral conditions and has already shown promising results in the treatment of Covid-19. Whilst we hope a vaccine will become available to prevent Covid-19, the next best option is an effective treatment. Given Convalescent Plasma Therapy is proven effective against Covid-19 this should bring hope to the country”, as shared by Mr Ian Grist, General Manager of Getz Healthcare Philippines.

He added, “With this donation, St. Luke’s Medical Center will be the first in the country to use a state-of-the-art machine built specifically for the collection of plasma, increasing collection speed and donor comfort.”

Currently, the collection of plasma is conducted through machines that are not designed for this purpose, which has led to St Luke’s having to modify the program of the machines to force fit it to work to their needs.

With the donation of the Scinomed iPCM, collection of donor plasma can now be completed in 40 minutes instead of the current 1.2 to 1.5 hours. This provides greater efficiency, increased donor comfort and safety, and the ability to greatly increase the amount of plasma collected in the same timeframe.

In addition, the Scinomed iPCM can collect up to 1,000ml instead of the current 500ml. This increased volume of plasma can be easily transferred to smaller bags, providing treatment to two to three patients, instead of the current one patient.

Scinomed iPCM was introduced to the market in early 2019 and is already being used worldwide by large plasma collection organisations in the collection of source plasma collection for fractionation. More than 20,000 such procedures have been completed using the Scinomed iPCM in trials and validations across various European countries.

With the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic, convalescent plasma collection has become a new urgent requirement in hospitals. Currently, Scinomed iPCMs have been deployed in the United Kingdom and across Europe to collect convalescent plasma successfully.

St. Luke’s Medical Center’s Convalescent Plasma Therapy Program has showed promising patient results. With the donation of the Scinomed Plasma Collection Machines, it is now able to drastically increase the amount of plasma collection and in turn, the number of patients who can benefit from this treatment.
 

About Getz Healthcare (Philippines)

Getz Bros. Philippines, Inc. (GBPI), a part the Getz Group was established in the Philippines in 1918 and was one of the pioneers in the sales and distribution industry in the country.

Getz Healthcare (GHC), a division of Getz Bros. Philippines, Inc specializes in the distribution of products for industries such as Pharmaceuticals, Medical devices and Consumer Healthcare.

Getz Healthcare Philippines strives to be one of the Philippines’ leading full-service distribution companies and the Business Partner of Choice. Our full-service distribution capabilities provide end-to-end representation of our business partners’ products, We pride ourselves in maximising market access and business expansion for our business partners through technology and data analytics, unparalleled sales reach, marketing, and world class supply chain capabilities. while delivering comprehensive service and solutions to our customers.
 

About Getz Healthcare

Headquartered in Singapore, Getz Healthcare trades in nine other countries, and partners with leading manufacturers of medical technology, becoming “Medtech companies pathway to Asia Pacific”.

Our companies have been operating in Asia Pacific for over 110 years. We are committed to developing long-term relationships with our partners and customers, applying and sharing our extensive experience, knowledge and resources to provide the best service. Through our wide range of innovative and high-quality products and solutions, we enable our business partners and customers to focus on what’s important – providing better care for their patients.

Getz Healthcare is part of The Getz Group, which is a diverse group of companies focusing primarily in Asia Pacific. Founded in California in 1852, The Getz Group first established operations in Asia in 1871. The Group currently has over 150 offices and 18,000 employees.

For more information, visit www.getzhealthcare.com.
 

About Scinomed

Scinomed Ltd is a private limited company based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. They manufacture and market specialist medical devices for use in the field of automated blood processing.

The founders of Scinomed Ltd have extensive global management and marketing experience in products used for the collection and processing of human blood with particular emphasis on plasmapheresis and plateletpheresis.

Scinomed is involved in all the steps of plasma collection for fractionation including Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) from planning to implementation.

The Getz Group of companies is a major shareholder of Scinomed Ltd.