Research

Research

The Blood Service’s scientific research is guided by the focus areas specified in the research strategy:

• Blood supply chain
• New cell therapies and compatibility of organ and tissue transplantations

In 2022, Veripalvelu spent a total of €4.4 million on research and product development, of which 64% was covered by external funding (€2.8 million). The net cost for research was 3% of turnover.

Our key researcher resources comprise 18 persons each with a doctoral degree and 13 doctoral researchers. Researchers at the Blood Service contributed to 28 peer-reviewed scientific publications. A doctoral thesis on HLA tissue compatibility was also completed in 2022.

The Blood Service is conducting several product development projects based on long-term scientific research. New products are being developed using among other things extracellular vesicles and therapeutic CAR NK cells. Treatment of leukaemia patients is being improved in a development project based on genomic information of biobank samples to determine which HLA types of platelet donors will yield the best treatment response. Biobanks also help to identify patients with rare blood groups to ensure there will be suitable blood products available for them.

A total of 500,000 euros in research funding was awarded from the Blood Service’s research fund. Another 149,000 euros were awarded from the research fund to strengthen the infrastructure of the Blood Service’s cell therapy research. This funding was used to renovate and equip the laboratory premises at Biomedicum.

Our key researcher resources comprise 18 persons each with a doctoral degree and 13 doctoral researchers.