NHS England selects Terumo's treatment for sickle cell disease

Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, a medical technology company specialising in products, software and services for blood component collection, therapeutic apheresis and cellular technologies, has announced that NHS England has selected the automated red blood cell exchange (RBCX) procedure performed on the company’s Spectra Optia Apheresis System through the NHS MedTech Funding Mandate (MTFM) to treat sickle cell disease.

As a result of this decision, Spectra Optia will be deployed more widely in hospitals across England. This will enable sickle cell disease patients to have improved access to this life-changing treatment.

Antoinette Gawin, CEO, Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, said: “Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders that can result in unbearable pain and the need for emergency hospitalisation. Specific ethnic minorities suffering from sickle cell disease are an underserved group of patients due to historical health inequalities. We have used Spectra Optia to target sickle cell disease to help address some of these inequalities. Existing standards of care for sickle cell disease vary by region in England and often come with additional health complications that lead to higher costs and poor health outcomes. The NHS MedTech Funding Mandate will enable our Spectra Optia system to be used to help treat more patients across England far more cost-effectively.”

Sickle cell disease is one of the most common genetic conditions affecting people in England. There are currently over 12,000 patients receiving treatment in 68 different NHS hospitals – 40% of those patients are under 20 years old.

John James, chief executive, Sickle Cell Society UK, said: “Currently, many of these patients have to travel far for treatments which take a considerable time to administer, are often painful, and can cause serious side effects. The expansion of the automated red blood cell exchange procedure performed on Terumo’s Spectra Optia Apheresis System across England will enable a considerable number of patients to access more effective and cost-effective treatment.”

The NHS MedTech Funding Mandate was initiated in April 2021. In its first year, it supported four cost-saving technologies approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This support is renewed annually to ensure the technologies meet the policy criteria. In its second year, effective 1 April 2022, the MTFM policy expanded to include seven further technologies, across a variety of clinical conditions, with potential savings of £4 million. All the selected products enable high quality outcomes from treatment and depend on fewer resources, reducing theatre time and length of stay so that more patients across England can be treated more quickly.

Matt Whitty, chief executive of Accelerated Access Collaborative and director of innovation, Research and Life Sciences at NHS England and NHS Improvement, comments on the MedTech Funding Mandate Policy: 

“Through research and innovation we can improve patient outcomes. By supporting patients and providers to have equal access to transformative innovations and technologies and by removing barriers to adoption we will reduce health inequalities and improve equity of access for all, and in particular those patients in disproportionately affected groups.”

Treatment of sickle cell disease using Spectra Optia technology is estimated to save the NHS £13 million per annum compared to current treatments, including manual RBCX and top-up transfusions. This savings, an estimated £18,100 per patient per year, comes in part because current treatments can lead to iron overload, which can have serious long-term consequences. Iron overload must in turn be treated with chelation therapy, poorly tolerated by some patients. Spectra Optia will mitigate these challenges faced by the NHS and patients by reducing the need for iron chelation therapy and automating the RBCX process for faster treatment.

Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies’ Spectra Optia technology received NICE Medical Technology Guidance approval in March 2016 and was reapproved in August 2020.