Transfusion

Making blood transfusions safe

For over 40 years, our Transfusion product line has played a vital role in making blood transfusions safe. We develop, manufacture, and support a complete line of immunohematology reagents, automated test systems and data management software used by hospitals, clinical reference laboratories and blood donor centers to find the right match for a patient in need of a life-saving blood transfusion. We’ve developed an expertise in blood bank automation technology unmatched in our industry. The core values we’ve brought to this process innovation, productivity, and partnership – have made us one of the world’s leading transfusion diagnostics companies. 

Advancing blood bank automation and diagnostics

Blood is vital to life. Every few seconds, a patient needs blood. Blood transfusions are critical to support trauma patients, surgeries, and cancer treatments. Multiple transfused patients include those with genetic blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia. To support patients in need of a blood transfusion, diagnostic testing to characterize the patient’s blood and available donor units is essential. Hospitals, donor centers and reference laboratories rely on our products for blood typing, antibody screening and identification of red blood cells and platelets, as well as complex antibody workups.

Improving donor-recipient compatibility for blood transfusions

We provide results-oriented and efficiency focused immunohematology laboratories and blood donor centers with total solutions to improve patient care and safety. Our products ensure the best donor-recipient compatibility for a life-saving blood transfusion with our manual and automated reagents, unique specialty products and scalable automation. Paired with our industry-leading data management, our solutions deliver test results accurately, efficiently, and productively.

Transfusion

A year of integration and innovation

2024 marked a year of focused integration initiatives for the business line. Two key areas included the integration of the commercial organization and systems integration. A targeted effort to retain key talent within the organization was achieved with positive results and we expect to finalize remaining integration activities in the coming year.

We continue to invest in innovations to advance the field of transfusion compatibility testing, including menu growth for our fully automated systems and enhanced data management capabilities. In 2024, we filed two key regulatory submissions to expand our automated test menu. Our automated Capture-P assay will allow differentiation of our test menu through a novel offering of automated platelet compatibility testing on the NEO Iris. We also performed regulatory submissions for new extended phenotype assays for the Echo Lumena platform. These upcoming product launches will enable transfusion services to automate more of their daily workload and will improve efficiency and productivity in the laboratory.

Across the diagnostics industry, there is a heavy focus on new IVDR guidelines and this continued to be a key area of focus for our technology center in 2024. We continue to make significant progress towards full IVDR compliance.

Finally, we remain committed to strengthening our talent pool and internal capabilities. In July 2024, we announced Gulam Shaikh as our Vice President of Research & Development. He will lead our product development, providing strategic vision, operational execution and leadership in alignment with the strategies and commercial objectives of the business.

Dominique Petitgenet
Chief Operating Officer
Transfusion and Transplant

2024 business highlights

Regulatory submissions for new extended phenotype assays for the Echo Lumena platform

Significant progress towards full IVDR compliance

Automated Capture-P assay will allow differentiation of our test menu through a novel offering of automated platelet compatibility testing on the NEO Iris

Our people in Transfusion

Transfusion is a family, not just a business line. Since 2015 I have experienced great success because of the hard work and dedication of the teams I support. 

My colleagues are strong willed, compassionate, quality driven and know patient care is our number one objective. The future of Transfusion is bright, because of the new opportunities afforded to us through our other technology centers. 

Theresa Welch Director, MTS Product Support,
North America

In my almost 26 years in Transfusion R&D I’ve been part of many exciting advancements in our automation offerings. It’s great to know that the products I have worked on have been used to power patient care. 

We have great cross-functional teams that understand that when we all succeed, the project succeeds. The challenges keep the work interesting, but the people make it enjoyable. 

Jimmy Piper Senior Director, Systems Engineering,
North America

I joined Werfen from Immucor. I have learned so much about collaborating, customer care and the well-being of patients from colleagues. Even though we are a big company, I know I am seen and heard. Truly a big family! 

Claudia Mancini National Sales Manager
Italy 

Our products: Powering Patient Care

Echo Lumena®

A fully automated blood bank instrument designed to save space and time in the laboratory. The Echo Lumena appeals to labs who require increased productivity within a smaller footprint. Featuring a broad test menu, instant access, and unparalleled turnaround times, it can complete a single type and screen test in as little as 23 minutes. Echo Lumena offers fast, accurate testing with a small footprint, making it efficient and user-friendly for laboratories. 

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NEO Iris®

Answering the call from hundreds of laboratory managers, medical directors and blood bank technologists, NEO Iris is our flagship automated blood bank instrument. Our sixth generation of automation, NEO Iris is designed for the medium to highvolume laboratory and improves efficiencies via an extensive test menu, dynamic workflow and resource handling, and remarkable flexibility for STAT prioritization. With the highest type and screen throughput on the global market, NEO Iris delivers an advanced level of performance.

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ImmuLINK® Data Management

ImmuLINK provides a centralized data management solution with a single user interface for our blood bank instruments in a multi-site environment. It connects, analyzes and organizes data to help users safely and efficiently report patient results. The newest ImmuLINK module, Panel ID, expands the test menu and decreases clerical errors for antibody identification testing.

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Molecular Immunohematology

Molecular diagnostic systems enable comprehensive antigen determination for donors and recipients of blood transfusions by DNA analysis using our proprietary PreciseType/HEA Beadchip technology. This innovative tool offers the ability to provide the closest match between a patient and a donor. 

Note: All sales growth numbers are at Constant Exchange Rate and Constant Perimeter.