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Military Pursues Synthetic Blood Alternatives
The US military, via DARPA, is investing $73 million in the RAPIID program to create synthetic substitutes for plasma, platelets, and red blood cells that do not require refrigeration. This initiative addresses persistent blood shortages faced in military conflicts and civilian healthcare. Navy officer Robert Murray is managing the program, which targets the delivery of dried blood products by 2029. This aims to overcome the significant challenges of storing and transporting refrigerated whole blood and current blood components. While companies like KaloCyte with ErythroMer for oxygen transport and Haima Therapeutics with SynthoPlate for clotting are developing potential solutions, experts note that integrating these products and satisfying FDA approval requirements will be a major hurdle.
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