A new plasma product could put lifesaving blood care closer to where combat medics need it most

• The FDA has cleared a new freeze-dried plasma for use, giving military medics another way to save lives.
• The approval could help save civilian lives, too, if ambulances purchase and carry the product.
• It's unclear when the new freeze-dried plasma may be ready for purchase.

A newly FDA- approved blood product could help US military medics treat wounded troops with life-threatening bleeding far from hospitals and reliable supply lines.

Teleflex's EzPlaz is a type of freeze-dried plasma, a byproduct of donated blood that can be stored for months without needing refrigeration and then reconstituted with sterile water for injured patients. The product's recent approval promises to provide military medics with a more portable, formally authorized way to replace a critical blood component that helps control bleeding.

"Freeze-dried plasma products enhance our ability to deliver lifesaving medical care" to far-flung expeditionary basing operationsby simplifying storage and handling and improving transportability for dispersed forces," a Marine Corps spokesperson said. The Corps is overhauling its forces for future wars that could see Marines working in small, dispersed units far from advanced medical care.

The FDA approval of Teleflex's EzPlaz follows emergency authorizations for the use of freeze-dried plasma made by the French government in 2018 and Swiss-headquartered Octapharma in 2024 by US troops in overseas combat zones. Both of those versions have a long two-year shelf life but come in glass bottles. The EzPlaz solution comes in a plastic bag that medics can easily carry in their already-stuffed medical kits.

"Patients experiencing life-threatening bleeding in combat zones, disasters, rural settings, or other austere environments may now have faster access to plasma when conventional frozen plasma is unavailable," Karim Mikhail, the FDA's acting director of its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a release on the approval.

He added that the move "addresses an important unmet medical need," particularly for "military personnel and others who may be far from traditional hospital infrastructure."

It is unclear how soon Teleflex could begin supplying its plastic-bagged freeze-dried plasma or how quickly it could scale production for buyers, including the US military.

Trauma experts told Business Insider the FDA's approval of EzPlaz is a significant step in a decadeslong military effort to move lifesaving blood products beyond hospital walls.

"When you put it in your ruck and you jump out of an airplane or helicopter, nothing's breaking," said John Holcomb, a professor of surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a retired Army surgeon, and leading advocate for civilian prehospital transfusion, speaking about Teleflex's durable plastic packaging.

Holcomb said the FDA approval for freeze-dried plasma could save civilian lives, too. The vast majority of American ambulances do not carry blood on board for hemorrhaging patients, largely due to insurance reimbursement challenges. An FDA-approved plasma product could make it easier for emergency responders to give blood to trauma victims, or others experiencing blood loss, like hemorrhaging women in childbirth.

Unlike conventional plasma, which must remain frozen until shortly before transfusion, freeze-dried plasma can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration. The Ezplaz product lasts for 12 months, according to the press release. That shelf life makes freeze-dried plasma particularly valuable for military operations where refrigeration, electricity, and reliable supply lines may be spotty.

Freeze-dried plasma has been used to save wounded troops since World War II. However, this solution has taken on renewed importance as the US military studies the war in Ukraine and prepares for the possibility of a large-scale war in the Pacific, where casualties could end up waiting hours or even days for evacuation and supply lines could be heavily contested.

Such a conflict could make transporting conventional blood enormously difficult, perhaps impossible. Refrigerated whole blood remains usable for roughly 20 to 35 days and requires careful temperature control, powered by reliable electricity. Frozen plasma lasts much longer but must be thawed before use, a process requiring equipment, time, and personnel that military units may not have available.

Concern over the logistics challenges prompted Congress in late 2017 to direct the Pentagon and FDA to strengthen coordination on military medical innovation.

A few years later, the Defense Department launched its $46 million FSHARP program to develop a synthetic whole blood — which is unmodified, with red blood cells, platelets, and plasma all kept mixed together and rigorously tested for safety — that could be stored on a shelf and carried into future conflicts. That effort remains under development following successful animal testing.

Freeze-dried plasma is different and is derived from donated human plasma, a portion of blood that contains proteins responsible for clotting.

While plasma's clotting properties and long shelf life make it valuable in places where blood is unavailable, military trauma experts who worked on injured troops throughout the Global War on Terror cautioned that blood products are not a stand-alone replacement for whole blood. Freeze-dried plasma is seen as a valuable tool for extending lifesaving care farther from hospitals and surgical facilities, not the whole solution.

The military has been chasing this capability for years. In 2010, the head of US Special Operations Command urgently sought a freeze-dried plasma that could save injured troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an Army release. A year later, after a White House summit, US special operations forces began using a French product under FDA investigational authority.

The current demands of modern combat and the anticipated demands of future fights are now bringing increased urgency.

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