# Hypoxically stored whole blood--evaluation of platelet activities under hypoxic storage conditions

> **NIH NIH R43** · NEW HEALTH SCIENCES, INC. · 2024 · $295,963

## Abstract

Whole blood [WB] transfusion is an effective therapy used to reduce the large number of
 preventable deaths from hemorrhagic trauma. The long-term objective of this project is to develop a
 modernized WB storage platform that reduces initial oxygen content and maintains an oxygen-managed
 environment during refrigerated storage in order to provide higher quality red blood cells (RBCs) for
 efficacious oxygen delivery and shock reversal, while maintaining bioequivalence in hemostatic and
 platelet (PLT) activity compared to conventionally prepared WB. To reduce waste and enable wide-
 spread adoption of WB, the proposed platform will include a novel WB additive solution, as well as a bag
 and an RBC additive solution to recover and store RBC for 6 weeks from expired WB, as the RBCs have
 a longer shelf life.
 Unlike the RBCs, PLTs contain mitochondria and rely on oxidative phosphorylation both in vivo and at
room temperature during storage for their viability. PLT metabolism at 1-6°C is significantly reduced, and the
cytochrome oxidase in mitochondria is known to have a very low Km. Unfortunately, the extensive preliminary
in vitro data which has been collected to date does not provide a clear answer regarding the effects of stable
low oxygen tension (~10-20mmHg) on PLT hemostatic function.
 The goal of this Phase 1 proposal is to obtain definitive data supporting the hypothesis that with its
reduced metabolic demands, the hypoxic RBC storage condition will provide adequate O2 tension to sustain
PLT’s hemostatic function, which would enable the project to proceed. The feasibility of this project will be
critically tested in this Phase 1 study by making hypoxic WB using an existing hypoxic RBC processing
system and tested in a small animal model study to compare the hemostatic function of conventionally
and hypoxically stored WB. Additionally, an in vitro study examining status of activation and activatability
of PLT under rejuvenated conditions mimicking the transfused state.
 If the milestone of Phase 1 is successfully reached, the development of both a novel hypoxic WB
storage platform with a newly formulated additive solution for the WB collected in CPD and a RBC storage
solution enabling a full 6-week shelf life for hypoxic RBC recovered from unused WB will begin. For both
solutions, a successful metabolomics based high-throughput additive screening method, developed under
separate SBIR Phase II grant for the screening novel hypoxic RBC additive solution, will be utilized.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11008137
- **Project number:** 1R43HL172515-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** NEW HEALTH SCIENCES, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Moritz Stolla
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $295,963
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-20 → 2025-09-19

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11008137

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11008137, Hypoxically stored whole blood--evaluation of platelet activities under hypoxic storage conditions (1R43HL172515-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11008137. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*