During the 1990s there was an immense amount of interest in hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) as a substitute for blood transfusions. HBOCs eliminate the need for matching blood types, do not require refrigeration, and support a longer shelf life than banked blood.
Several technologies were tried, but none gained FDA approval for use in humans. One product was approved for human use in South Africa and Russia – a bovine blood-derived, polymerized hemoglobin. Manufacture of this product stopped in the early 2000s for a variety of reasons.
Medical Technology Associates II (“MTA2”) was established in 2015 to re-commercialize the bovine blood-derived HBOC technology with new production processes, product configurations and applications. Now operating in Malvern, Pennsylvania in a completely re-fitted manufacturing space, MTA2, doing business as 8BioMed, is developing a modified process to enhance safety while still providing all the benefits of an oxygen therapeutic.