Freeze-dried plasma: the trail back to the battlefield

Defense AT&L, Sept-Oct, 2006 by Elizabeth Barrows

At this point I feel that I am standing on the crest of a hill, looking back on freeze-dried plasma's long history and looking forward to what the modern product will look like when I leave this path, after the product has received a marketing license from the FDA and has returned to the battlefield. The initial product purchase funded by the Foreign Technology and Science Technology Assessment Program award is finally in house, and the first set of tests were completed by mid-June.

I am confident that if the briefing call comes for the Technology Transition Initiative program, my department chief will be able to say that this product meets the Army's specifications for freeze-dried plasma, that an investigational new drug application is already under development, and that this project is on track for a Milestone A review in early FY2007. The trail conditions look good from here.

The author welcomes comments and questions. Contact her at elizabeth.barrows@na.amedd.army.mil.

Barrows, of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, is a project coordinator specializing in resuscitation and blood product development on contract to the Army's Combat Casualty Care Research Program. She holds a master's degree in biomedical engineering and is a Project Management Institute certified project management professional.