The transfusion of red blood cells (RBC) is a critical component in the treatment of a number of acute and chronic medical problems. Indeed, approximately 75 million units of whole blood (~34 million liters) are annually collected worldwide for processing and eventual transfusion. Despite this massive collection effort, the need for blood constantly exceeds availability due to a combination of collection, manufacturing, storage and biological (i.e., immunological) issues. The immunological issues can often be the most clinically vexing as the RBC has ~300 blood group antigens that could potentially result in alloimmunization and, in rare cases, prevent life saving transfusions. Currently, there are limited options to either prevent blood group alloimmunization or to cost-effectively treat patients with severe alloimmunization.

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