Grifols plasma collection centre reopens

One of Grifols’ two clinics in Winnipeg resumed taking plasma donations Tuesday as part of the pharmaceutical giant’s phased reopening in Canada, while the other location remains closed with a suspended licence.

The company temporarily halted paid plasma collections at its clinics across Canada on Aug. 14 amid scrutiny after two people died following donations at the Taylor Avenue and Innovation Drive sites.

Grifols said in a news release the Innovation Drive location, near the University of Manitoba, and a clinic in Edmonton reopened Tuesday with a limited number of appointments that will gradually increase.

Health Canada suspended the Taylor clinic’s licence Sept. 23 for non-compliance with regulations. Terms and conditions were placed on Grifols’ 16 other donation centres in Canada. The Innovation Drive clinic’s licence was not suspended.

Health Canada spokeswoman Karine LeBlanc said Grifols’ phased reopening is being conducted under increased oversight.

Department staff visited the Innovation Drive and Edmonton locations “to verify that corrective actions, staff training and operational controls were in place to support compliance with the blood regulations,” LeBlanc said in a statement. “Grifols is expected to demonstrate ongoing compliance as operations resume.”

LeBlanc said the department will conduct scheduled and unannounced inspections.

“Health Canada is ready to conduct additional readiness assessments on any future site reopenings and will take future compliance and enforcement action, if warranted,” she said.

Spain-based Grifols, which makes plasma-derived medicines, said it has improved operating procedures, employee supervision and training, quality review processes and operational oversight after taking full ownership of its Canadian operations Sept. 1.

The Canadian Blood Services, the national blood authority that does not pay for donations, said in a statement Grifols has taken “prudent and effective steps” to improve quality systems. The organizations signed a 15-year deal in 2022 to increase Canada’s supply of immunoglobulins.

Health Canada previously said it found no links between the two deaths and the donation process. Grifols has said protocols were followed in both cases.

The family of university student Rodiyat Alabede, 22, who died after donating plasma at the Taylor site in October 2025, disputed the conclusion in her case, and called for a renewed investigation. A second person died in January after making a donation at the Innovation Drive site.

Rhema Idonije, who’s been donating plasma at the Innovation Drive site for about three years, expressed confidence in safeguards and protocols based on his own experiences.

“Every time I’ve come here, everybody has been super excellent. Very thorough,” he said when he arrived for an appointment Tuesday. “I haven’t seen any type of negligence or anything that would warrant any kind of negative press about the place.”

Idonije said a Grifols employee called him Monday to let him know the clinic was reopening, and to invite him to book an appointment.

“They called me and said, ‘You’re one of our valued donors.’ I’m sure they tell that to everybody,” he said.

Idonije said he normally donates plasma twice a week, receiving about $400 per month. He said the payments and “the stuff I’ve read as far as the benefits and how (plasma) helps with people going through different (health) issues” motivate him to donate.

Noah Schulz, provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, called on Health Canada to provide “more rigorous” oversight of Grifols.

“They can’t ever rely on remote inspections or allowing Grifols to sort of do their own inspections,” he said. “(Inspections) need to be more regular, there need to be actual penalties when non-compliance occurs, and Health Canada needs to not take on faith that Grifols is doing what they should be doing because we haven’t seen them with a consistent enough track record to have that confidence.”

The coalition has advocated for Canada’s blood and plasma collection system to be fully public and not-for-profit. Some provinces prohibit paid plasma donations.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Sept. 23 all options are on the table when it comes to how paid plasma collection operates in Manitoba.

“I can tell you that this has been very top of mind for the health minister and I,” Premier Wab Kinew said at an unrelated event Tuesday.

“We have definitely been looking at a lot of aspects of this scenario, including how do we make sure that people in hospital who need plasma supplies are able to get that care when they need it.”

Asagwara, in a statement, said afterward any decisions by the government will be guided by evidence.

Grifols paused plasma donations at its Canadian centres two days after Health Canada gave the Taylor site a non-compliant rating. The site’s licence was later suspended.

Health Canada has said Grifols failed to effectively implement corrective and preventive actions at the Taylor site, and did not demonstrate that it has an effective quality management system.

The department found the plasmapheresis machine extracting Alabede’s plasma showed an alert that should have prompted staff to end the donation, which they failed to do, according to documents.

Alabede collapsed about 45 minutes into plasmapheresis and was taken to hospital. An autopsy found she had a pre-existing heart condition and died of cardiac arrest.

Health Canada said deficiencies were detected after an initial compliance verification inspection at the clinic Nov. 20, 2025.

A Dec. 22 letter written by a federal inspector raised concerns about staff training, record-keeping and how some employees reacted to plasma collection machine alerts or alarms.

An unannounced inspection occurred June 23. After additional compliance checks, the department informed Grifols on July 13 that several conditions were not satisfied.

— with files from Joyanne Pursaga

chris.kitching@winnipegfreepress.com