With the EU financial support, the BOTIA contract objective is to build up a European BRC of serum sample aliquots from transfused patients and corresponding labile blood product donors, and a second identical organ transplantation BRC. The purpose for this BRC is to study the prevalence and transfer capacity (via a blood transfusion or organ transplantation) of pathogens, whatever emerging, re-emerging or variants of already identified agents, and to improve the safety of blood and organ supply by creating the research infrastructure to monitor emerging pathogens and develop new screening tests.

Eight partnering European countries are involved in this contract among which Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK.

In France, the project development unfolds within a collaboration between the INTS (adressing the scientific and administration coordination), the French Blood Establishment, Ile-de-France area (EFS-IdF) and seven regional hospitals. Chronic polytransfused patients such as suffering from sickle cell disease and undergoing ‘erythrocyte exchange’ are involved as well as transfused immunodepressed patients further to a marrow transplantation.

Involved partners have implemented a shared database of donor/recipient aliquot samples, focused the BRC on one spot in higher and appropriate preservation and computerized conditions. This way each participating country should be able to reach the target of 5,000 aliquots.

The development and maintenance of this BRC of blood product donors and recipients already allows to set up infectious transfusion safety surveys at a European level.

Know more on the Botia contract by clicking here.

Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine (INTS), France

Chancellor, Masters and Scholars, University of Cambridge (UCAM), UK

Ospedale A. Manzoni, Dipartimento di Medicina Trasfusionale e di Ematologia, Lecco (DTMH), Italy

Scientific Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Public Health (IPH), Belgium

Centre de Transfusió i Banc de Teixits (CTBT), Spain

Academic Medical Center (AMC), The Netherlands

DRK Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg-Hessen GmbH, Institut für Transfusionsmedizin (DRK BSD), Sandhoftrasse 1 - 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Réseaumatique S.A., France

Institute of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine (IHT), Poland