Grifols donors not informed their plasma is used for drugs sold overseas, MPs hear

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Donors giving blood plasma at Grifols’ paid collection centres are not informed that some medicines made from their donations will be sold for profit overseas, according to testimony from a Canadian executive of the Spanish pharmaceutical company in Ottawa on Thursday.

Mary Hughes, Grifols’ vice-president of sales in Canada, also told the House of Commons health committee that donors are informed there is a risk of death during the procedure.

Grifols, the largest commercial plasma collector in Canada, has operated in partnership with Canadian Blood Services since 2022 to collect plasma, a component of blood that is used to make medicines such as immunoglobulin. CBS spends $1-billion a year on plasma-derived drugs and related products, about two-thirds of its budget.

Grifols has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after two deaths at collection centres in Winnipeg.

Ms. Hughes declined to discuss many specifics of the deaths, which she described as operational details she was not aware of, or the terms of the company’s agreement with CBS.

Loved ones seek answers after 22-year-old student dies while donating plasma at for-profit site in Winnipeg

Conservative MP Matt Strauss, who is a physician, said one of the people who died appeared to be a healthy young woman.

Friends have identified one of the recent deaths as Rodiyat Alabede, a 22-year-old international student at the University of Winnipeg, who was rushed to hospital and died after she donated at a Grifols centre on Oct. 25.

“I assume that your organization screens folks to make sure that they’re totally healthy, and she died either while hooked up to a donation machine or shortly after being disconnected,” Mr. Strauss said. “That seems like a correlation. ... It seems like we’re avoiding the fact that there’s an obvious correlation.”

“I’ll repeat, and to be clear: Today, there is no correlation between death and plasma collection,” Ms. Hughes replied.

Ms. Hughes appeared sitting next to lawyer Marc-André Coulombe of Stikeman Elliott LLP. It is uncommon for witnesses at parliamentary committees to be accompanied by lawyers.

Health Canada reviewing deaths of two people who donated plasma at private centres in Winnipeg

Also in attendance during the session were Canadian Medical Association president Margot Burnell and Médicament Québec executive director Arianne Trudeau, who were asked to testify as part of the committee’s larger study on pharmaceutical sovereignty.

Grifols had initially declined an invitation to speak to the health committee.

At a March 10 hearing, MPs agreed unanimously to summon Grifols to appear at the committee. Mr. Strauss cited a story broken by The Globe and Mail last year that Grifols’ manufacturing in Canada had been used to make a product derived from plasma called albumin, which it was exporting to other countries, principally China.

That export appeared to contradict past pledges by CBS that all plasma collected under the partnership with Grifols would be used exclusively for Canadians. But CBS and Grifols said the products are being exported anyway because Canada currently has enough albumin.

On March 11, CBC and The Globe reported that two people had died after donations at Grifols’ centres in Winnipeg.

Conservatives call for investigation of Spanish drugmaker’s use of Canadian-donated blood plasma

Mr. Strauss also asked about what donors are told before giving plasma.

“I’m a practising physician,” he said. “The principle of informed consent is fundamental to my practice. Are folks who donate at Grifols plasma donation centres, are they informed of a potential risk of death when they donate?”

“Madam Chair, yes,” Ms. Hughes said, addressing Liberal MP Hedy Fry, who chairs the committee.

“When somebody donates, are they informed that some of the donation they give may be packaged and sold for profit overseas?” Mr. Strauss then asked.

“Madam Chair, when donors consent, they are informed that the plasma that they collect is intended for plasma-derived medicines for Canadian Blood Services,” Ms. Hughes responded.

“That sounds like no,” Mr. Strauss said after some further back-and-forth.

Mr. Strauss also asked whether Grifols was party to any agreement that limited what products derived from Canadian plasma could be exported, but Ms. Hughes said the terms of the agreement were confidential.

On the recent deaths, which Health Canada is investigating, Ms. Hughes said she was unable to answer many questions, such as whether activity at the clinics was paused on the days of the deaths, whether the employees operating the donation machines are licensed health professionals or whether Health Canada had seized the donation machines used when the adverse reactions occurred. She said she would follow up later with written answers.

Why Canada spends $1-billion a year on drugs made from blood plasma

After Ms. Hughes’s testimony, MPs on the committee unanimously agreed to a motion ordering the production of the agreement between CBS and Grifols, and that it be deposited with the committee no later than April 10.

Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Thursday that the province has been working with federal officials and Manitoba’s chief medical examiner to investigate the deaths in Winnipeg.

“We expect a thorough and transparent investigation, including a clear understanding of whether all safety protocols were followed,” Mx. Asagwara said in a statement to The Globe.

“All actions remain on the table,” the minister said about a possible ban on paid plasma donations in Manitoba. “People who donate plasma need to know their safety will never be put at risk.”

Health Canada has also disclosed there was a death after a plasma donation at one of the Winnipeg clinics in 2018. However, that death occurred before Grifols acquired the site from a different company in 2022.

Deaths during or after plasma donations have otherwise been very rare in Canada. CBS has told The Globe it has no record of any deaths at its sites.

Donors at Grifols centres are allowed to give plasma twice a week if they pass health screenings.

At Grifols centres, donors are paid between $30 and $100 a donation, depending on volume and frequency of donation. They are also paid $50 bonuses for donating 10 times within six weeks and $100 bonuses for donating 100 times within a calendar year.

CBS generally advises its plasma donors to leave at least six days between donations.

Grifols also announced this week it planned to sell part of its U.S. operations in an initial public offering. The parent company, Grifols SA, will continue to be traded on the Spanish stock exchange.