Mumbai : After reeling under an albumin shortage for nearly one and a half years, people in the city can breathe a sigh of relief as the only manufacturer of albumin in Mumbai, Reliance Life Sciences, is now importing plasma from other countries like Taiwan, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner said on Monday. However, the talks with the blood banks regarding providing plasma to the manufacturers are still ongoing, and nothing concrete has come out of it as the banks are facing issues over a lack of component separation facilities, which are needed to separate plasma from the whole blood.
Considering the issue of albumin shortage in the city, the FDA had stepped in to discuss with the manufacturing company their difficulties in producing the drug. FDA Commissioner Harshadeep Kamble said, “There is a shortage of albumin in many parts of the country as the demand for the drug has increased, but we have discussed this issue with the manufacturer, blood banks and the government. The manufacturing company will soon get plasma from Taiwan, which is the basic raw material needed to make albumin. Also, we are trying to get help from the blood banks also so that we can bring the albumin shortage in the city to an end.” City doctors said that the albumin shortage has taken a toll on their patients, especially those with kidney and liver failure, who are in severe need of albumin.
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