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Hemanext Partners with the Miami Chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America

Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. (SCDAA) and Hemanext Inc., a leading innovator in blood processing, storage, and transfusion technology, today announced the expansion of their partnership to collaborate on community-focused educational programs and grassroots events.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects approximately 100,000 individuals in the United States, disproportionately affecting African Americans. SCD occurs in about one in 365 Black or African American births.1 The genetic disease is associated with serious, life-threatening complications, including stroke and acute chest syndrome (ACS).2,3 As a result, people with SCD often require chronic red blood cell transfusions,2 which for some patients is a life-saving therapy.3

Martin Cannon, CEO of Hemanext, said: “Hemanext remains committed to all patients requiring transfusions, including those with chronic conditions such as sickle cell disease. Our partnership with SCDAA provides us with greater opportunities to understand the needs of patients. In this next collaboration phase, we look forward to helping support regions with high SCD prevalence as they access multidisciplinary care and educational opportunities. In addition, Hemanext hopes to highlight the specific needs and complexities for this patient population, including efforts to increase diversity in the donor pool.”

Regina Hartfield, President and CEO, SCDAA, said: “Hemanext has been an important partner to SCDAA for almost three years now. Our joint efforts will help build awareness for the SCD community while shining a light on the importance of diverse blood donations. These patients need their community to support them, and our goal is to amplify that through events like this.”

To kick off this important initiative, a family and educational event in December in Miami, FL was organized, alongside the local chapter of the SCDAA and OneBlood. This event helped unite the different touch points in patients’ treatment journey, as well as provided tips for staying healthy during the holidays—specifically for this community and those receiving transfusions.

Dr. Ofelia Alvarez, M.D., Director of the Pediatric Sickle Cell Program at the University of Miami and member of the local SCDAA Miami-Dade Chapter said: “Supporting the sickle cell community through educational programming is key, especially during the holiday season which can be a time of heightened stress. I look forward to this event every year and welcome as much support as possible for this patient population.”

Dr. Mildred Berry, President, SCDAA Miami, said: “We are grateful for Hemanext’s dedication, both locally and nationally, to SCD Warriors. This support comes at a critical time, as we do everything in our power to bring joy to these families during the holiday season.”

George “Bud” Scholl, CEO of OneBlood shared: “This event is a welcomed first step in our partnership with Hemanext. Together we can help create awareness about the need for a diverse blood supply and the importance it holds in helping sickle cell patients. We look forward to continued collaboration with Hemanext and holding blood drives together in 2023”.

About Hemanext

Hemanext is a privately held medical technology company based in Lexington, MA that is dedicated to improving the quality, safety, efficacy, and cost of transfusion therapy. The company’s research and development efforts center on the study of hypoxically stored red blood cells (RBCs). The company’s aim is to significantly improve the quality of stored RBCs. No Hemanext product is currently cleared or approved by the FDA for commercial use in the United States.

Hemanext Media Contact
Stacy Smith
Director of Global Marketing Communications
stacy.smith@hemanext.com

  1. Data & Statistics on Sickle Cell Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated May 2, 2022. Accessed November 9, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html.
  2. American Society of Hematology. Understanding sickle cell disease. Available at https://www.hematology.org/education/clinicians/guidelines-and-quality-care/clinical-practice-guidelines/sickle-cell-disease-guidelines. Accessed March 23, 2021.
  3. Chou ST, Fasano RM. Management of patients with sickle cell disease using transfusion therapy: guidelines and complications. Hematol Oncol Clin N Am. 2016;30(3):591-608. DOI: 10.1016/j.hoc.2016.01.011.
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By producing higher quality RBCs, the Hemanext ONE system has the potential to enable fewer and more effective transfusions for patients. I am truly excited by the possibility of bringing this improved red blood cell replacement therapy to populations in the U.S. that have been waiting for a transformative technology like this one.

Dr. Philip C. Spinella
Professor, Department of Surgery and Department of Critical Care Medicine at University of Pittsburgh

We value our partnership with Hemanext to enhance blood product quality and availability. Hemanext ONE has the potential to strengthen the resiliency of the blood supply, and this FDA authorization is a significant milestone to that end.

Ralph Vassallo, MD, FACP
Executive Vice President, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of Vitalant

The Hemanext ONE system offers promise to improve the treatment landscape for patients burdened by transfusions and could be an essential step towards performing fewer and better transfusions. Having long championed Hemanext’s transformative initiatives, I eagerly anticipate witnessing the positive influence, right here in the United States, on the advancement of transfusion therapy quality.

Paul M. Ness, MD
Former Director, Division of Transfusion Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and board member of Hemanext

By deoxygenating red cells and maintaining them in their hypoxic state throughout storage, the resulting red cells experience less oxidative stress and oxidative damage, have improved metabolism, and are also more deformable leading to improved micro vascular profusion and less hemolysis.

Dr. Steven Spitalnik, MD
Co-Director of the Laboratory of Transfusion Biology, Colombia University

The preclinical data by Williams et al. show anaerobically stored RBCs achieve multiple clinically important functional resuscitation goals, with a smaller volume of fluid and the FDA benchmark of 24-hour RBC recovery. I look forward to the clinical trials in bleeding patients.

John Holcomb, MD, FACS
University of Alabama at Birmingham

I have had several patients who have received Hemanext hypoxic blood, and several of the patients have personally said thanks for having been given the opportunity and also that they have felt better after transfusion with hypoxic blood compared to conventional transfusion. One must of course be careful not to attach too much importance to such observations, but I would still like to mention that there has been a remarkable tendency towards this.

Håkon Reikvam, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway

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